Yoshi's True Story: Countdown to Calamity
by Lacerta007
Summary: It's the endgame now; the Claw Fragment wielders have been mostly defeated, the Shadow Stepper has returned and the individuals that have the ability to resist the looming dystopian future are few. however, more than what they know is at play and even more is at stake, so what will be the fate of the three combatting forces?
1. Chapter 1

PROLOGUE

Cold Blood

?'s P.O.V.

It was a wise choice for him to call me, especially after his plan had come together. I was unsure if he was going to he was going to acknowledge my existence now that he could pass between his captivity and the physical world at his will now. He knew that I was still a vital part of his plan, even if I was working in the shadows up until this point.

_No matter; I'll be able to have my fun_

I reassured myself as I stood in the Abyssal Void while spinning my favorite butterfly knife absently. I liked the ivory lines that were slightly raised over the cold steel.

_Just as cold as my blood_

I joked mentally and a second later, a smile manifested on my face. I was going to be a part of my own plan now! I hadn't seen anyone other than the Shadow Stepper and his team.

_That is if I could call it one_

I muttered mentally in anger as someone materialised in the Abyssal Void, right in front of me. In that instant, the cold eyes and the evil smirk was more than enough for me to deduce who this was.

"I think you know-"

He started, but I lifted my left hand to silence him and that moment, a chain wrapped itself around my wrist. The chain pulsed a Chartreuse color as I clenched my hand into a fist, which snapped the chain, which caused the Shadow Stepper to flinch.

"That you need me, even if you have all eight of the Claw Fragments!?"

I finished his statement angrily, which brought a chuckle from him. I didn't know why he was laughing, but I could make a guess based on the dully shining lights that were coming from his left hand. There were four that he had; Purple-Black, Metallic, Silver and a deep Purple colored one. The other two had been released, probably due to the Shadow Stepper's cockiness; it was going to be his downfall and I could count on that.

_I just need to make sure that everything is manifested in order for me to take it all for myself_

I thought tensely, and I must've let my evil grin get overcasted by my tension, because the Shadow Stepper suddenly lashed out at me. A normal individual should've been struck, but I was not normal, and he knew it as well. I easily shifted a little to the left and the Shadow Stepper must've thought ahead for once as a wall of wires formed behind me and he tried to get me on the backswing, which I dodged as well. The familiar sense of my "Driver" coursed through me and the area around us flashed the same Chartreuse color, which blinded him for a moment, which gave me enough time to slash the wires behind me with a single and simple backhanded upward motion. I launched from my place and backrolled gracefully and stood up to my full height. I met the Shadow Stepper's furious glare, squared shoulders and clenched jaw as the atmosphere around us grew even more tense. I thought it was hilarious!

"Face it; even though you have a great amount of power, I'm still your superior"

I said with a curt laugh that ended my sentence. He was _EXTREMELY _cocky and it was my guess that I had been in the shadows for so long that he forgot about me and continued to puff himself up. The Shadow Stepper growled deeply and DeathBringers formed around him. I looked nonchalantly at them, trying to figure out why they had wires wrapped around them.

"You're REALLY annoying, you know that!?"

He growled, clenching his hand into a fist, which started the DeathBringers into a crumbling mess. I could tell that he was infuriated, maybe with me or something else, but there was something that I wanted to hear from his mouth. I wasn't sure that he would say it, but I was going to wait however long it took. I had been waiting for over 3000 revolutions, which wasn't a long time for me since I was the one that presided over this place. He knew it and I knew it and it was then that a voice that was new to me started to speak, which broke me from my thoughts.

"Who's this? I've never seen him around before"

The voice stated with tension and confusion. I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness and take in the image of this individual. It was a yoshi, but this one was Black-scaled and held three different entities in its body. It was muscular in its body composition and looked like it could be of use to me. However, it was not in the best of condition, as most of its body was covered in large cuts and seemed to be standing on the last of its wits, which was manifested in its shaky stance.

"He'll be of no use to you; he's a traitor"

The Shadow Stepper growled, binding this individual in less than a second with nearby wires. I sighed angrily and looked at the ceiling of this place.

"You've captured an individual that has both of the gene abnormalities in this species, an individual that is able to keep Energy Levels and have half of the Claw Fragments and are STILL not able to accomplish your task?"

I asked with the same level of mild annoyance as I looked back at his scowling face. I could tell that he was frustrated with something, but I didn't know what it was.

"What's keeping you from accomplishing your task; you have another stronger form that should easily be able to kill these reptiles, no?"

I pressed, hoping to evoke a reaction from him. He clenched his hands and jaw even tighter, which brought other wires from around him up to his ankles, wrists and neck. The wires started to glow softly as they started to heat up.

"You think that I can't do it by myself, huh!?"

He asked angrily and I knew at this point that I already had won. His short fuse was the key to his loss; it would cause him to make unconstituted decisions and keep him from thinking rationally, which would bring to whoever fought him many openings.

"Certainly not; if these creatures can consistently stop you, then what progress have you made?"

I said smugly with a smile of the same which sent him over the edge. His tense body went limp for a moment before he stood up to his full height slowly. He squared his shoulders, tensed his arms and legs and a shockwave of air went through the area as something I knew that would amuse me even more started to happen. This was his "Saiko Osama" form that he prized so much. I didn't understand why though, because his body would be in an even more unstable state. I saw the familiar symbol that I drew for him when we created this world together form in a Gold color in the center of the orb that had enveloped him flash once before another shockwave ripped through the area. I commanded the chains to form a barrier in front of me and not even a second later, there was a wall of chains before me. The shockwave moved the chains a little, but I wasn't hit by anything; not the air, nor the wires that streamed by me or the energy that dissipated quickly after he changed.

_Does he not know that anything he does will be in vain?_

I asked myself as I tipped the brim of my elegant hat over my face and started flipping my prized knife again. I heard him taking deep and angry breaths, but he wasted so much of my valuable time by now that I lowered my eyes to the floor and shook my head.

"You know that every attack you try to land will be for naught, right?"

I asked, not looking up at him; I knew that he wouldn't just transform into his other self for no reason and that what was coming was another useless barrage of attacks that wouldn't hit.

"If you're going to provoke me to this point, then you're going to regret it!"

He yelled in pure rage, launching at me once again. From the corner of my left eye, I saw something streak from the darkness and stand in front of me.

"You'll be broken if you try to take this attack"

I said to the figure when it stopped in front of me. In response, the individual laughed slyly and took a stance. The Shadow Stepper was so clouded with rage that he didn't see this individual and landed a punch square in this individual's chest.

_A simple counter, huh?_

I mused with a chuckle as the Shadow Stepper locked eyes with the Black scaled individual, which were consumed with rage. He only looked at him for a moment before turning his eyes to me.

"You really will use anyone, won't you?"

He growled and right after he finished his statement, he flew away from us and landed somewhere far away. Just as I was about to turn away and start on my next mission, the Black scaled individual started to speak.

"Who are you?"

He asked, which stopped me in mid-turn. I let my smug smile drop and put my "serious face" on. I turned back to him leveled my eyes with his.

"Why do you; do you have business with me?"

I stated evenly as more chains started to snake up my back and legs. This captured the individual's attention and I smiled slightly. I wasn't sure what was so amazing about the chains, but I guess it was enough for him.

"You have both of the gene abnormalities and can use Energy Levels efficiently and yet you are fascinated by these simple chains?"

I asked with mild annoyance as I tipped my hat down again so I could hide my eyes. I didn't need this individual knowing what I actually was. I wasn't sure if the Yoshi species had met a human, but this timeline was becoming unstable. It had become so unstable that some of the possibilities had merged and as a result, worlds had merged together.

_Because of this, the Claw Fragments surfaced and the True ReBorn is about to surface_

I thought as I heard a voice calling out to me. I shook my head slightly to get myself out of this thought and concentrate on the voice calling out to me.

"What!?"

I asked angrily, concentrating on the individual standing before me; it was him who was calling out to me.

_But why would he? Doesn't he know that by submitting himself to me that he will get nothing in return?_

I asked myself as he shifted uneasily. I could tell that he was nervous and he rightfully should be! Putting my arrogant thoughts aside, I shifted to the task at hand once again.

"You lost both of the Claw Fragments that you possessed; how are you still alive?"

I asked him with a minute trace of tension in my voice as I turned around and opened a hole in space so I could think. I heard his quiet and quick draw of breath as I smiled. I knew that I had struck a nerve, so I kept thinking about the Claw Fragments; I knew the Shadow Stepper wanted to return to the world so he could make it his own way, but I knew that he knew that I could halt his progress in seconds. If I really wanted to, I could destroy them with the snap of my fingers, but that would be incredibly boring.

"How about it?"

I prodded him as I inspected the images of the Claw Fragments. Just by looking at them, I could tell that he made these behind my back and in response, I waved my hand again and the images dissipated. I laughed curtly, which caused the individual behind me to sigh.

"Within the Energy Levels of my body, an individual resides in me"

He said slowly, which brought a speck of interest to me.

"Is it anyone important?"

I asked, looking over my shoulder at him and I met his tension filled gaze. He looked at the ground for a moment and sighed again.

"If this individual can support something like you for so long, then it's really something isn't it?"

I asked with a curt laugh as I commanded the chains around me to bind this blurred from the speed and I all I could seem him do before the chains bound him was his eyes widen in surprise.

"It's just a precaution unless you try anything"

I explained with a shrug as I took a thoughtful stance. He struggled for a moment before he went limp. Along with the sapping properties, these particular chains were able to sense and distinguish the properties of the bound individual that happened to succumb to them.

"I defended you from the Shadow Stepper and you still don't trust me?"

He asked quietly and I growled in frustration.

"You haven't answered my question yet!"

I said as composed as I could, but it came out as an outburst and as soon as I finished the sentence, I looked at the ground for a moment before shaking myself off. It was a property of this power and I wasn't sure now if I could keep myself from controlling it now since so much time had passed.

"I sense the amazing and abysmal hatred of life in your second Energy Level"

I marveled, looking back up at him.

"Something like that"

He responded breathlessly and at that moment I facepalmed; the chains were wrapped too tightly for him to breathe!

_How am I going to get an answer from him if he can't breathe!?_

I thought with amusement as I loosened the chains marginally, just enough for him to breathe somewhat so he could respond in an intelligible way. After he caught his breath, which didn't take long thankfully, he spoke.

"Mastermind; he's the one that resides in my second Energy Level"

He said with a marginal amount of fear in his voice that was completely understandable. Someone, which was no longer able to be called a person that could do the damage that it was capable of doing was something to fear. However, it wasn't scary to me, as I had served alongside this person when he was….alive. Nevertheless, I was intrigued and since he did, I decided to do him a favor. I took the butterfly knife out of my pocket, which caused him to narrow his eyes at me.

"What are you doing!"

Was all he could say before I slashed downwards slightly in front of his body. I hadn't done this in a while, but I knew that my knife had various abilities that I could employ and the one I was using was a special one: Energy Level splitting. I heard his pained cry rip through the area and in that instant, I knew that my idea was successful. I watched the compressed air cut his body in half; it was necessary for the Energy Levels to free themselves. I knew that he would be furious since all the power that he he gained would be lost, but what did I care? I was the ruler of this world and no one could stand up to me; not even him!

_However, I can't seem to shake the thought that I had been too careless at one point_

I thought as the halves of his body fell over. I saw something move behind his body and in an instant, my eyes focused and I let my face go emotionless.

"Back for more?"

I asked as I watched him look down at the halved individual on the ground. He growled deeply and stomped the ground hard.

"You're going to release the individuals inside him; are you insane!?"

He asked fearfully, which sparked anger in me, which I was barely able to control. However, I was barely able to keep it under control with the combination of my gritted teeth and balling my hands into fists.

"You don't know me then"

I said through gritted teeth, which silenced him, even if it was only for the moment. Instead of looking at him, I looked down at the bubbling mass of what the individual I had halved was. The mass separated into three bubbling mounds, which started to take shape as I thought of the individuals that were living as compressed energy inside this individual's soul. I was mildly interested in what form they would take; they couldn't be be normal and I didn't think for a second that I could base my guess on what they could be by the iris color either.

"This better be interesting"

I threatened the mounds as they continued taking shape. I wasn't sure if they heard me, but the middle one shuddered a little and started taking shape marginally faster than the other two. I watched the large face and eyes form with the familiar lights form in the middle of him, the long arms and legs were more than enough for me to understand who this was, and a smile formed on my face when the lights flickered on.

"I don't suppose you'll welcome me back"

He said with annoyance with twitches in his arms and legs that signaled to me that he actually had died! Putting this thought aside, I looked to the left a little and saw the individual that I split in half and to the right, something I thought I would never see again, which made my smile even bigger.

"I'm surprised; the very individual that brought the Devil Gene into existence for this world"

I said, mildly amazed by the fact that this individual was able to harbor and use the energy of this individual at will! I looked at the Red scaled individual as it looked at the floor with a blank expression.

"W-where-"

She started, but the individual in the middle spoke first, much to my amusement.

"I'm surprised that I would get a second chance at living, somewhat"

He said as he finally stopped the twitching, which brought some relief, which eased the tension that was tearing at me. I gave him a stern, yet inquisitive look that silenced him once again. I looked to the Red scaled individual again and I met its gaze. The first thing that stood out to me was its extremely Silver colored eyes; it seemed that its irises were made of mercury by how silver they were.

"You were sealed away by Master Keele, right?"

I asked it and in response, it cocked its head to the left and stared blankly into the space before something odd happened. The Silver color dissipated, leaving this yoshi's eyes completely White in color before it collapsed.

"The name is familiar"

The individual breathed while in a crumpled heap. I looked at him and he shrugged.

"You're the one running this show"

He told me with a series of head twitches that followed his statement. I nodded slightly and looked at the Black scaled individual. I could sense an energy from him that was familiar….REALLY familiar

"Who….are you?"

I asked slowly as more chains started to wrap around my body. The individual stiffened and leveled his gaze with mine, but he was focusing on something different. I looked away in confusion for a moment before the shuffling sounds started. I turned my head slowly to see where the sound was coming from and my sight fell on the Red scaled individual that was getting to its feet slowly. I was about to see what my actions had gotten me; for good or for failure, this was going to tell me if what I had done was in vain. It stood up to its full height and I locked eyes with this creature; they were still completely White, but when I blinked, the momentary action was all that was needed for its irises to return, and when I opened my eyes again, I let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"No way"

The Black scaled individual breathed as it started to breathe; at the same time, a symbol started to appear on its upper left arm.

_This is going to be fun!_

I exclaimed mentally as I stood up to my full height and took a deep bow.

"It's a pleasure to be in your midst, Lady Caliente"

I said with a huge grin on my face and I could feel the immense power coming from this individual! However, I was not sure why an individual of the opposite gender would be inhabiting one of the opposite; it was beyond me.

_However, if it doesn't mean any more progress for me, then I'm not interested _

I snorted to myself while returning to my standing position and took the most polite posture I could, but I still felt that I was lacking. Her eyes burned into mine and I could tell that she was staring straight in my soul, or rather my "Driver".

"It seems that you still haven't found your way out of this place"

She seethed, probably due to the fact that she was ripped from an Energy Level. I knew that it took some getting used to, but I didn't know that it was painful. However, I was still nervous because she could see into my Driver.

_That means she really could kill me if she wanted to_

I reminded myself, questioning myself again if this was a good choice. While I was thinking about this, Caliente had turned to him.

"It seems that being shattered across the dimensions has treated you well"

She mocked him, which sent the other individual into shivers. Since I was curious, I peered into his mind. After all, since I had created these beings in conjunction with a few others that I…..used to trust, I could since they were my property. It wasn't being cruel if it was boiled down to the simplest that it could be, right? With this, I found a memory and opened it.

_So that's what makes this individual fear him then_

I said with realization. Doing this was risky, especially since I couldn't see anything outside of the memory while I was in it. When I came back to reality, Caliente was waving her hand in front of my face.

"For being the 'All Powerful', you space out quite a lot"

She said mockingly with a smug smile. I pushed her away and took a couple of steps back. I had a plan, but I needed pawns, er a team that was willing to comply with me.

_It doesn't matter if they want to be; they're all wrapped around my finger anyways_

I thought tensely as I found myself looking at Caliente again and I jumped in response. The others chuckled and I could feel my face getting hot.

"Whatever"

I growled to myself as I watched the Shadow Stepper take a place next to the Black scaled individual. I was surprised that he was getting into line now; did he actually now understand his place in my plan!? I needed to think now; I was capable of doing this all by myself, but with the effort I had just expended, it would be a waste to destroy them all again.

"You; the Black scaled thing!"

I snapped at it, which caused it to flinch.

"What are you and what are my enemies weaknesses!?"

I asked again with the irritability that came from staying in the Abyssal Void for too long. I wasn't sure why this happened, but I guess it had to do with keeping my mass in place, because if I didn't I would end up like him, and being shattered across space and time with a mind like his being lost hardly deserved the title Mastermind. I heard Caliente growl to herself quietly and angrily for some reason and after that, the other one started to speak.

"I'm an individual of the Yoshi species and they all suffer from their past"

He said with a mild quiver in his voice. It was good to know that he understood the power that I possessed; it was going to prevent me from killing him. The plan could use him, but he was nothing more than a pawn to me!

"I'll need more than a plan"

I declared suddenly, which brought all of their attention to me.

"What do you need, smarts?"

The Black scaled individual retorted and not a second later, a chain wrapped itself around his mouth. The others looked at him for a moment before looking back at me. She had that familiar smile on her face now, which meant that I had her trust, after all, I brought her back from the depths of the universe and had spared her from pain, for the time being.

"I'll need a team; that's why I've brought all of you here"

I declared, rubbing my hands together with anticipation. Caliente and the Black scaled individual looked back at me in confusion, but the other two already knew what I was going to do; after all, this was not the first time that an event like this had come about.

"Each of you have a certain skill that you possess that's valuable to me; so tell them to me to make sure that my time isn't wasted choosing you"

I said nonchalantly with a hand wave as I yawned in tiredness.

"You already know mine"

He said, vanishing from my view and in that instant, I knew where he had gone.

"I picked certain subjects that could withstand the Devil Gene and am capable of extracting that power"

She said with that smile of hers that mildly annoyed me. My gaze then fell on... looked away quickly and I stretched absently.

"All you want to do is get out of here, right?"

I asked tensely, which caused him to lock eyes with me.

"Go; I don't need you anymore!"

I dismissed him angrily, waving my hand, which sent him away quickly. I then looked at the last one in line, who was looking at the ground.

"Of what use are you going to be to me?"

I asked him as Caliente walked off. I didn't know where she was going, but I felt that it had something to do with achieving my goal, so I didn't say anything.

"I'm able to keep Energy Levels at a stable condition within my spirit"

He murmured, continuing to look at the floor. I could tell that he had failed catastrophically at something, which was keeping him from recognising his true potential.

_If that's the case, I just need to gain his trust, use his abilities and then discard him later._

I thought, dropping my gaze to the floor, trying to understand what he was looking at.

"The Shadow Stepper really isn't good at this whole 'ruling the world thing', you know?"

I said with a little laugh, which brought his gaze up to mine. We both reached eye level at the same time, his being cold and cruel and mine being a steely intimidating look.

"I lost my brothers and mother to this war; what can you possibly offer me that could change that!?"

He seethed, balling his hands into fists.

_Not the reaction I was expecting, but I guess I could use that anger for something_

I said mentally, and I immediately started to think.

_It won't be easy for me to find their weaknesses, so I'll have to be close enough to witness them, but far enough for them not to understand what I'm doing_

I reasoned with myself, coming back to reality to find that I was wasting time.

"Do you have a name?"

I asked the Black scaled individual and he sighed.

"I'm Abyss, but who are you?"

He asked and in response I squared my shoulders

"Others call me the Overseer, but I prefer to be called Serpiente"

I said professionally, taking a deep bow, which was seemingly automatic when I met new people

"Serpiente, huh?"

He confirmed to himself as I returned to my previous posture and extended my hand out to him

"It will be a great pleasure working with you"

I said with a sinister smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Distance

Lime's P.O.V

I pulled back the trigger for another shot and the usual pain of the gun's recoil ripped across my shoulder, which let me know that I had adjusted the ratio properly. This brought a smile to my face, despite the situation that I had just become a part of. I had been following Emperor's group for some time now and I wasn't sure if he knew that I was or he just didn't care and was paying no attention to me . Either way, I didn't care but I had to now because this was going downhill and fast; especially since I just shot one of the most powerful beings that Lily knew. I made this conclusion by her manifested fear and word choice when she addressed this individual. I ducked under the patch of rocky area that I had just fired my last shot from and took another round from my boot and loaded it into the chamber by pulling back on the loading arm of my gun. I could feel the heat emanating from the loading chamber and the guidance barrel that spanned the length of my weapon. My hands shook as I put the next round in.

"W-where?"

The individual that Lily called Caliente sputtered as I heard gravel crunching. Rojo had trained me well, as I knew what my next three actions were going to be. I poked my head around the corner of the cover rock and saw Caliente looking around furiously, uprooting trees and other objects close to where I was. I slunk behind the rock and steadied my breathing so I could take the next step. I put my gun onto my back and stood up, not to my full height and launched from the cover to a pile of brush that was close. I needed to make sure that I wasn't seen, as the style I had been taught by Rojo was a Sniper-style type of battle tactic. This was contrary to what I wanted to learn, but he insisted on it for some reason. I somersaulted and returned to my hunched over position and took the gun off my back again and lined the sight up with my target, which was a short distance away from me. This next shot had to count, as I possessed no magic abilities whatsoever, not to mention that I, in this situation, was seriously outnumbered and outgunned.

"You can't hide forever; when I find you, you'll wish that you never crossed my path!"

She yelled as the ground to my immediate left exploded, showering me with dirt. In response, I pulled the trigger and the shout resounded, but at that moment, my fear was realised; I missed my shot, which meant that I had no more rounds to fire. Laughter resounded as I rubbed my eyes to clear them from the dirt.

"Found you!"

She said in a sing-song voice, which caused me to stiffen, but I shoved instinct away and darted forward and resetted into my sword stance, which meant that I wad in the worst possible situation that I could think of.

"Looks like I flushed out the pest!"

She announced as my grip tightened on the hilt of my weapon. I could feel the waves of magic energy emanating from her and the arrogant stance that she took only cemented my thoughts of where I was going to end up in mere moments.

"You know"

She started to say as she stretched, which put me even more on edge, which resulted in me shifting to my left-faced stance.

"I can commend you on your marksmanship!"

She said with a minute trace of amazement as she pulled something long and silver from her nose, which Immediately recognised as one of my bullets and snapped it in half with two fingers, throwing the pieces away after inspecting them for a moment. She then narrowed her eyes and looked at me crossly.

"The composition of this bullet; what is it!?"

She growled, launching at me faster than I could see. I was unable to comprehend the speed at which she moved and before I knew it, even before I felt the pain, I was flying across the area and my back slammed into a tree, which forced the air from my lungs. I groaned softly and tried to get to my feet, but I felt the ground shake in front of me and I knew that my opponent had full control now; I was helpless.

"It doesn't matter if you tell me; I can dismantle your brain and take the knowledge from there"

She breathed as I felt a hand close around my neck. At this point, I was ready to give up.

_This is what I get for not wanting to learn magic and go with the old way of doing things_

I sighed as the last of my strength left me. I heard Caliente chuckle as the grip around my neck suddenly tightened even further, which started to cut off my breathing. I was yanked from the ground, lifted by my neck roughly to be at eye level with her.

"I see that you decided not to learn magic"

She said with a venomous sneer that showed her jagged teeth.

"That means that you are of no use to me and are to be crushed to a bloody mess under my boot"

She continued as something Yellow flashed by me and sent her flying away from me at a fast speed. I fell to the ground, took in precious air and laid there for a moment before something landed right next to my chest on my left side. It sounded like it was metallic and it was hot, as I could feel the waves causing the scales that were near it to hurt.

"Get up you pathetic excuse for a soldier!"

I heard a familiar voice seethe, which caused me to twitch. I tried to move my arms, but they would only move to a certain angle and then send waves of unbearable pain down my body. Despite this, I was able to push myself up and then as I was about to get to my feet, something grabbed my left shoulder and picked me up with ease and leaned me up against the tree. My vision was still somewhat blurry and wavy, but I was still able to make out the Yellow individual, which was looking crossly at me.

"You really would dare to strike a demon"

She marveled in complete anger as the smoke cleared on the other side of the area, revealing an amazed and seething Caliente. She had her hands balled into fists and was grinding her teeth while looking at the ground.

"Seems you forgot about me"

ThunderHead jeered as we both turned our gazes to her. ThunderHead roller her shoulders and Caliente continued to grind her teeth, which seemed to have dulled the points somewhat. ThunderHead smiled cruelly as she took her stance.

"Ready to have your face pounded in?"

She asked cockily as she launched, which my eyes registered as a yellow blur. Caliente followed suit and the two started trading punches and kicks. It seemed as if they were evenly matched, as every strike that each of them threw with their arms and legs was smoothly and quickly parried. After what seemed like an eternity, they broke and the to were launched away from each other as the product of something that I couldn't comprehend. ThunderHead stopped close to me, breathing heavily. She growled softly and shook her head and just as I was about to ask her what as wrong, my gaze was dran to Caliente, who didn't seem phased at all, in fact, she seemed bored.

"This is what Serpeinte picked as the Thunder Claw Fragment Wielder?"

She asked in what seemed to be mock amazement, which caused ThunderHead to stomp the ground, which caused lighting chains of yellow, red and white to crawl down her body.

"ThunderHead"

I said in a warning fashion, but she ignored me as Caliente started to laugh, which caused ThunderHead to launch again, but this time, I felt something off. Just as I was about to call to her, I saw something glowing on her right hand and at that moment, I knew that there was only one outcome to this situation and it wasn't a good one.

"Such a quick temper!"

Caliente said with an evil sneer as ThunderHead charged at her. I knew that something was wrong, but I couldn't put any clear thought as to what was. ThunderHead ducked low and tried a Bicycle Kick aimed at Caliente's head, but it seemed that her anger was getting to her and this was manifested in her opponet's next move.

"Didn't your teacher tell you that hate-filled attacks are the easiest to defend against?"

Caliente asked as she parried the attack so quickly, she moved as a blur. A loud cracking sound went through the area and I heard ThunderHead's grunt of pain as she stumbled a couple of steps back towards me. She was leaning forwards a little and breathing quickly, drawing large and deep breaths as Caliente leaned back a little in a taunting fashion.

"Oh, you didn't know?"

She asked, catching both of us off of our guard. I found the strength to lean over to take my sword out of the ground and take my sword stance shakily.

"What are y-"

I started, but I was cut off by a loud hiss from THunderHead.

"Be silent you fool!"

She hissed, which sent a chill down my spine and Calainte started to chuckle, as to what, I had no idea.

"What; you don't want to tell him that you're nothing more than a tool created to bring about the inevitable?"

She asked in a taunting manner, and all of this was becoming too interesting for me not to ask questions. ThunderHead stood up to her full height and twitched, which sent a loud cracking sound through the area, which cut Caliente's chuckling short. Whatever ThunderHead did either amazed her or scared her, but only one thought came to my mind: she set her shoulder or arm with the other one, which amazed me too!

"Be silent!"

She seethed, taking her stance again and this time, I felt tension in the area, something I hadn't felt earlier. Calainte took her stance too.

"What else don't you want to be revealed?"

She asked cockily as they both launched again, but this time, ThunderHead jumped into the air and with shaky arms I started to lower my weapon so I could see if there were any more projectiles in the chambers. There were eight chambers total, so the possibility of remaining shots could be in my favor, but I remembered something at that moment.

_It could also mean that there isn't any or I overlooked something_

I thought tensely and right after that thought, my vision was clouded by smoke and dirt. Right after that, my balance was disturbed and I fell backwards. My chest felt fluttery and my limbs were starting to burn, which meant that my consciousness was starting to fade.

_No, not now!_

I screamed mentally as the back of my head impacted the ground, which sent a wave of numbness down my body instead of pain, which scared me. I closed my eyes and I felt tears going rolling down the side of my cheeks because of the smoke. By this time, the smoke had cleared and I saw the two fighting, which brought some comfort to me.

_If she's still standing, that means I have some chance at survival_

I thought tensely as my eyelids became heavy. In a panic, I bit the bottom of my lip and my eyes fluttered open again, but this time, my vision was sharper. With this, I was able to turn my head slightly and see that my weapon was still close to me. Summoning as much strength I could muster, which was barely anything, I was able to lift my left arm and push the cylindrical chamber slightly and because the loading chamber was spring loaded, I heard the locks click which meant that my endeavor had been successful. As the chamber left its position and because of the spring load, the chamber spun, which sent two long objects nearby that landed with quiet metallic sounds.

_Two; that's good!_

I thought excitedly, but then dread settled over me as I recognised what I had just done. I took in a long breath and forced my arms into a position that I could push myself in. as I moved my arms, intense pain and a burning sensation coursed over me, but I didn't care; I needed to take action because I had spent most of this altercation doing nothing! Ignoring the pain and shakiness in my arms and hands, I grabbed the long cylindrical objects and somehow fumbled them back into the chambers. I took another deep breath and pushed the chamber back into the firing position and the locks clicked again. I sighed in relief, but that action was followed by a severe coughing fit that sent even more pain coursing over my body. I was shaking visibly and the pain was to the point now where I was feeling sick.

_I can't give up now; especially since ThunderHead has protected me up to this point_

I raged to myself, which prompted some strength to return to my limbs; I had no idea where it came from or how I was able to summon this unknown strength, but somehow, I was able to lift my weapon and my vision was adequate enough for me to be able to sight my shot. I lifted the weapon and set it against my shoulder, not knowing if the action I wanted to take would succeed. The two were still fighting, and as soon as I took my deep breath in, everything seemed to slow down; my vision cleared even more as I let out the breath, which oddly wasn't shaky or pained. I tensed up as I took my next breath in and put my middle finger around the trigger and applied a minute amount of pressure on the trigger and I stopped my breath while I sighted the shot. I narrowed my eyes as I pulled back on the trigger and the familiar shockwave of pain and sound coursed over my shoulder and ripped through the area. I wasn't able to ignore the pain anymore and when the shockwave coursed over my shoulder, I fell backwards again, but I was able to see Caliente falter, which was enough for ThunderHead to start her next series of slid a short distance which brought her close to Caliente, she then proceeded to do an inside crescent kick, followed by an outside crescent kick, both of which, Caliente easily dodged. What happened next though surprised me; I saw a flash of yellow color that blinded me for a moment and right after the flash blinded me, I heard the sickening sound of a clean impact that had a significant amount of force behind it.

"Stratosphere Launch"

Someone screamed as I finally was able to open my eyes, but there were dancing lights that obscured my vision, so I couldn't see who landed the hit, but right after I thought of the possibilities, something was launched away. I blinked a couple of times to clear my vision, and when I did, I thought I was still hallucinating, which prompted me to shake my head in disbelief. Standing some distance away was not only ThunderHead, but another yellow scaled individual standing next to her. They both were standing with their backs to me seemingly saluting the sky. I tried to shake my head again, but my jaw dropped, which caused one of them to twitch, but they both looked over their shoulder at the same time, directly at me.

"Target Identified: commencing eradication protocol"

One of them said, which caused my breath to catch in my throat. At this moment, I finally remembered something: my gun. Without turning my head I was able to see Tempest, but the gun barrels were still glowing red.

_Not good!_

I screamed mentally, just as A kick was driven into my chest. My head snapped back and A wave of pain and numbness ripped across my body, and I flew backwards, I heard laughter; one that was cold, cruel and full of malice. I landed on my back and rolled a couple of times and stopped on my back. I moaned quietly and blinked a couple times in an attempt to clear my vision. On the third blink, I was able to make out something that was tall and covered in black and blue. At that moment, my vision was clouded by dust and I closed my eyes while tears started to roll down my cheeks. I didn't know why, but an overwhelming sense of fear and dread had washed over me.

"You know, It's one thing to try to turn an individual's own creations against their creator"

The black and blue colored individual seethed as I felt something close around my neck, which ceased my ability to breathe, but that was the least of my worries.

"It's something completely else to use something that's not yours and treat it as if it's been yours the whole time!"

The individual practically yelled as I felt something being driven into the back of my head; I felt so much pain, that all I could feel was numbness, but something was off. Replacing the numbness was strength, which started me into panic again. Whatever was around my neck let me go and I returned to a standing position, but not by my own doing. I turned around and came face to face with whatever this was and as soon as I turned around something landed behind me, disturbing the dirt around us and sent a small fog of dust around our feet into motion. I wanted to see whatever this was that had landed behind me, but all I could manage was a small twitch for some reason. It was at this moment that I could see a line of blue color near my feet at the edge of my vision that was steadily clearing.

"Do you know that ThunderHead and Lemon are _mine_!?"

The creature asked irritably, stressing the names of my comrades for some reason; it looked like a humanoid amphibians with webbing between its hands and feet that ended in wickedly sharp claws that had lines of blue color wrapped around them. I didn't know what was going on either and I knew that this was going downhill fast; even worse than the prior situation that I was in just moments ago.

"Indeed; you did a fine job of leading us to the Thunder Claw Fragment wielder"

A familiar voice stated neutrally with a minute trace of anger as the sound of crunching gravel filled the area. It was only when the individual came into my sight, carrying the two yellow individuals was I able to remember who this was. I tried to mouth the words I wanted to say to this individual, but I stood straight and didn't move; I was being controlled!

"Oh, don't be that surprised"

She said with a venomous smile as she dropped ThunderHead and Lemon in front of this creature unceremoniously. Its eyes narrowed as they involuntarily dropped to their knees, shaking visibly. Something was glowing near their face as well, as it illuminated the darkening area.

"Chassis number EY-002 and Part #2"

The creature murmured as I spotted something that was near my right foot that was similar to the lines that were now snaking towards the individuals in front of me as this creature clenched its hands into fists, which were emitting different colors. As the lines started to crawl up the backs of my comrades, the creature started to chuckle in a complete mood swing. Caliente's right arm was glowing as well, partially illuminating the area as I saw the lines now burrowing into their backs and their heads.

"Two incoming!"

She suddenly snapped, jerking her head up at something and at that moment, that ambient temperature rose and I was able to flinch, which meant I was capable of reacting!

"You!"

she seethed as I flew backwards and impacted something, but it didn't hurt oddly. I stumbled back a couple steps and was finally able to get my balance, but when I did and looked over my shoulder, I went cold. Standing behind me was an individual of red scale color that towered over me. There were lines of orange color that ran between his scales that were complimented by the muscle mass of this individual. Deciding it wasn't a good idea to keep looking at him, I turned my head slowly to look back at Caliente and the creature, who was looking at the other individual as well. There was an electric feeling in the air that I couldn't describe that sent shivers down my spine and chilled me to the core.

"What's going on?"

I asked quietly as I started to take a step to the left to get away from this, but the other individual spoke.

"The last thing you want to do right now is run"

He said with a low and deep voice that sounded familiar, which prompted me to look at this individual again. When he spoke, my scales vibrated and the other two growled deeply.

"So, after all this time, you want to show your face again"

The creature started as I started to edge towards the individual with the familiar voice. Calainte was quick with her next statement too and it scared me.

"Especially to me after all that you've done!"

She screamed, stomping her foot so hard, the ground cracked from where she was standing to where I was. Obviously, there was some sort of tension that I was standing in the middle of and I wasn't sure of what it was or why this was happening, but there was one conclusion that I could make: I was being protected by Rojo!

_I have so many questions though!_

I thought wildly as I tried to contemplate the gravity of the situation I was in. I looked over my shoulder again to find that the individual that I thought was Rojo had taken a fighting stance, and something was glowing brightly on his right hand that caught my attention. I turned a little to get a better view, but as I turned, I felt a disturbance of air near my back and before I could react, the individual moved and I heard a grunt of pain as something slid away from us. Because the motion was so quick, I faltered for a moment, taking a deep breath to make sure I was still alive, and then I turned to see Caliente holding her nose and leaking a red substance that flowed weakly through the fingers she had against her nose. She was shaking slightly as she lowered her hands and leaned forward a little as she started to growl deeply. As I started to think of the possible actions I could take lines started to stream all around it, which sent me back into the panicked state I was just in, looking around frantically for a way out. Oddly, he didn't look as if it was frightened in any way; in actuality, the Rojo looked calm, as if nothing was going on.

"enough"

He growled, waving his hand , which made a hole in the wires, which lit up his hand. The area around us started to heat up and just as the hole formed, I saw Caliente barreling towards him, full of rage. In the same calm state, Rojo blocked three of Caliente's punches and kicks with _one hand. _I could see her getting frustrated now and that was manifested in the careless and hate-filled strikes she threw.

"How could you be so calm _knowing _ the atrocities that you leave behind!?"

She shrieked, which prompted me to cover my ears from the pitch and the force behind her words. I looked at Rojo to see that he had stiffened somewhat. The two broke from one of Caliente's strikes and I could feel that something else was at play here. The air was filled with electricity that caused me to feel as if I was going numb again, but I had feeling to all my joints. At this point, the question that was burning in my mind passed my lips accidentally.

"What did you do to cause her to hate you?"

I asked, but the moment I finished my sentence and put my hands over my mouth in horror, I knew the damage had been done. Without warning, a column of fire erupted from the ground and encircled me.

"It wasn't my fault"

He growled as I tried to focus on Rojo through the flames. His body wavered in the heat that I was trying to dispense by taking my hands from my mouth and waving them near my head in an attempt to dissipate the heat at least somewhat. Because of the wavering image, I thought he was shaking, but I wasn't able to make a clear distinction. I saw Caliente smile and I knew that my question was more than a mistake; it was a grave decision.

"You decided to kill _our _only child because you didn't want to carry out what would be the best of the genealogical advantages of our species!?"

She pressed, trying to get to Rojo. I knew that since Rojo had been promoted to Captain of the Armies, he was tested in this very area.

_He should easily be able to take this; he even taught me to take this!_

I thought tensely as I saw him ball his hands into fists and the light between his scale brighten. A peculiar feeling started to fill the area as i saw something manifest on his upper left arm. I wasn't able to see what it was, but it felt similar when Emperor would lose his temper.

_But that can't be right; Rojo isn't capable of losing his temper!_

I continued to think, looking around wildly and my gaze settled on the bipedal creature, who was smiling slightly; it seemed as if this was amusing it! I couldn't figure out why, because everything that I could possibly think of was happening right here!

"An individual with both the Rex and Devil Gene was something that I couldn't allow to happen"

Rojo started to say, which prompted me to return my gaze to him. As soon as I returned my gaze to him, I felt a cool breeze over my left shoulder, which caused me to twitch. Without turning my head, I saw something that had a pointed object near my neck.

"I would advise against taking any action towards me, especially since what is about to conspire hasn't happened in 8000 years!"

The individual seethed as it took the pointed object from my neck and put it into a concealed area near this individual's chest.

"It's ok to be curious, after all I'm sure that humans haven't visited this place in a long time"

The individual said with a smile that showed sharp teeth and that was what caused to to tear my gaze from rojo to face him. He was wearing elegant clothing with an odd article that covered most of his face, except for the mouth that was seemingly frozen in this evil smile.

"I couldn't pass up the opportunity to tell most of secrets to something as pitiful as yourself; you're going to die at the end of this anyways"

He said as the smile vanished and he raised the odd article just enough so his eyes showed, and I went cold despite the heat all around me. His eyes were a base color of white, but had yellow slits that contrasted greatly; they were as yellow as Lemon's scale color! I only saw them for a moment before the human lifted the odd article over his face again and turned me to see Rojo fighting Caliente.

"My name is Serpeiente, but I also go by the name of the Original Serpent"

He started as the flames around us started to dissipate, which brought the heat with it too.

" you see, when I created this world, I needed balance to keep everything in running order"

He continued as the flames continued to die out.

" Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Electricity, Light, Metal, Ice and the Cosmos"

He listed as the as the last of the flames died out. At this point, my mind was so full of questions that I was starting to develop pains in my head.

"all essential elements for creating a world"

He breathed as something flew past us, but because of the increduality that I was unable to dissipate, I didn't move.

"However, a deed as great as this wouldn't be possible without some help"

He said, motioning to the creature that was grinding its teeth next to him.

"So, my name is not even going to mentioned, even though I helped _create _this world!?"

It seethed as I saw something coming right towards us and I tensed up due to the fact that I was in the way of this object, but without moving its head or turning, the creature that the human was addressing opened its hand and moved it to the left, which direct whoever that was away from us. Still showing the same anger, and the human with a big smile on its face now moved faster than I could comprehend and I started to choke.

"Lady Caliente was correct; you are an imbicle for not learning something that could've helped you!"

The human jeered as I tried to flail, but my limbs weren't responding; i was in the same situation that I had been in multiple times before just this day!

"However, getting to the point"

He started as he artistically flipped something that blinded me for a moment into his left hand; it was silver in color and had a wicked pointed edge that was precursed by a serrated portion of what I assumed was a knife.

"Not all of the elements I chose were mine"

He murmured as something fell at my feet. I was able to move my eyes, but I still had to strain to see who it was. The individual was red in scale color and was badly beaten. Rivers of a red substance was leaking out of multiple deep gashes that were all over this individual's body. The eyes were closed and the whole image was completed by deep labor breaths that this individual was taking in.

"I was able to create half of them: Rojo, ThunderHead, Mercury and my accomplice"

The human said with a minute trace of glee, which was followed by a short laugh as my head was wrenched the right, which tore my gaze from the beaten individual to Rojo, who looked nothing like he had been; the brightly colored lines that ran between his scales were gone as well as the sword of fire and the aura that he had possessed. He was on his knees now, staring directly at me with a blank stare that rivaled Slayer's when he was confused.

"This should be trivial to you, but they each have something that they can control; magic must be bound to an individual, especially one that they are capable of controlling"

He continued as I started to lose consciousness, which prompted the odd creature the growl deeply.

"Use my name you bag of flesh!"

He seethed, which caused the human to chuckle.

"Fine then, _Shadow Stepper_!"

He said, stressing the creature's name so much, I twitched. At this point, I was sure that it was the adrenaline that was keeping me awake, despite my lungs and the muscles that were burning, accompanied by a stinging sensation that was coursing across my body. It was at this point that I finally understood the company that I was in the midst of.

_The Evil Trinity!_

I gasped mentally as the human started again.

"When you create something, you have total control over it; it doesn't matter if they have free will"

He said, with his tone changing near the middle of his sentence. Now, my vision was becoming blurry.

"My original plan was to harvest the Devil Gene from everyone who had it to take over Cryptis' creation, but now, since the Claw Fragment wielders have turned up because everyone wants to go on a treasure hunt for the clues that lead to me, I'll just have your king bring about the inevitable!"

He said with another laugh, and as soon as he finished, something cold was plunged into the back of my neck and I succumbed to the pain and slowly closed my eyes as the sound of laughter slowly died in my ears.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Complications

Ruin's P.O.V.

His presence was near me and the energy that rested in me was itching for battle. The area that I had arrived at still had the tension of battle and my limiters were becoming weak.

_If I don't find Cryptis soon, I will perish!_

I reminded myself as my right arm lifted itself without me telling to and my hand went to one of the beads that ringed my neck. The one that my hand went felt sharp edges that signified that my limiter was close to failing. The cold material was some comfort, but I quickly brushed the sentiment away and let my mind return to what I was made for: protecting Cryptis at all costs. I casually pushed a tree to the side and I took in the sight of the area. Three individuals of the yoshi species were on the ground, accompanied by one individual of the chameleon species that was struggling to stay alive, one human and….him. Sparked by the influence of the Devil Gene and with the lust for battle that I was incapable of controlling drove me forward.

"So, that makes six"

The human said wistfully as the creature that I was created to destroy brought its right arm back and opened it, exposing wickedly sharp claws that glowed different colors. Without warning, a wave of anger, greed and unknown motivation coursed over me and I started to walk forward. My body started to twitch uncontrollably as I walked, moving by the will of my emotions and not my brain telling it to.

"You have some nerve to show up here, Raze Under Initiative Null unit!"

A voice called out to me, which stopped me cold and dead in my tracks. Wave after wave of cold and hot coursed up and down my body as the individuals who were standing turned to look at me. I could easily identify all of them: Shadow Stepper, Rojo, Emperor, ThunderHead, Lemon, Abyss, and…. Her. the Devil Gene reacted to the influences in the area and manifested itself by my body twitching.

_I'm not going to be able to control myself at this point!_

I thought tensely as something started to glow brilliantly, which was accompanied by a wave of magic energy that flooded the area. I was unsure of why this was happening and I knew that this wasn't going to go well. I knew that Cryptis was here, and at that moment, I lost control of my body. My consciousness was kicked to the corner of my mind and the Devil Gene took over, which meant that I had very little, if control over what happened next.

"Where…..is….he!?"

I seethed, shaking visibly as the light died down and my vision returned, which prompted me to take my fighting stance as I felt the familiar stinging sensation that coursed over my body, which meant that I was calibrating for battle. This included thickening my blood and increasing my muscle mass slightly and diverting blood to needed areas of my body and cutting circulation off to others that I didn't need. My question caused the human and the Shadow Stepper to chuckle.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

The Shadow Stepper declared as I finally noticed what had changed. Lemon and ThunderHead were missing and Rojo had changed to another form. With this minor confusion, I stiffened slightly and gave some of my attention to my surroundings.

"So, this is what you call allies?"

The Shadow Stepper asked as the lines that were wrapped around its hands started to uncoil and slither along the ground, which startled me somewhat, but I didn't let any of that concern me.

"I call them puppets; bags of flesh to do my bidding!"

The creature continued as I finally understood the gravity of the situation I had placed myself in: the Shadow Stepper had somehow unbound itself from the Abyssal Void and was now capable of moving between the two worlds _at will_.

_Wait! That means_

I thought tesnely as the creature continued while the wires climbed up the individuals of my species that were near it.

"You see, being the creator of something gives you full rights to treat what you've created however you want"

It continued with a smug look on its face as I watched the wires coil themselves around the necks of my acquaintances. I couldn't understand how I wasn't fighting at this point, but I could only narrow the possibilities down to having the minute control that I hypothesized that I had. The mist was darkening and I felt my neck starting to heat up.

_If I don't start releasing this energy soon_

I started to think, but I felt the air displaced and I felt a shockwave of energy pulse through me and with the speed that I possessed, I parried three attacks and resetted into my stance, where I found myself in the middle of a circle of individuals that was created by Rojo, something that looked like the combination of Lemon and ThunderHead and her. Off in the distance, I could see the Shadow Stepper and the human watching me, but there was another presence that I could feel, but couldn't pinpoint for some reason.

"Why will you not fight me yourself!?"

I growled loudly, which caused the ring of individuals around me to flinch. At that moment, a very faint voice resounded in my mind. I looked around wildly, and the ring of individuals around me started their assault. Rojo threw a punch that I directed into the combination of Lemon and ThunderHead. His punch impacted her axe-kick that sent the area into smoke, ash and embers. I used this to break away from the group and reset, but something drove an elbow into my chest and I slid backwards from the force that I was hit with.

"I surely haven't seen this before!"

The voice marveled as I strained to see through the billowing smoke that clouded my vision. I knew this voice and I didn't like it!

"It seems that you have something that doesn't belong to you"

The same voice said, changing to a tone that was somewhere between anger and a taunting fashion. Confused my this, my stance faltered and something sent me forwards and for the first time in a long time, I felt pain. I staggered forward a couple of steps and took my stance again shakily.

"This doesn't belong to you specifically"

I stated evenly, shifting my left eye to see behind me while my other eye focused on this individual. At this point, the frustration of being hit and feeling pain was starting to become overwhelming.

_Ruin_

The voice called again in my mind, which caused me to look around again. As soon as I took my eye of the individual, something impacted the side of my head, which sent me spinning off into the left, which meant that the attack had come from the right. I growled to myself as I hit the ground and quickly returned to my stance again, but this time, the individuals that had made the ring around me were laughing at something.

"Come on Ruin, you're not this bad at fighting!"

Rojo taunted me as I shook my head to clear some of the nausea that I was starting to experience. The combination of Thunderhead and Lemon also started to chuckle and at that moment, the nausea I was trying to control washed over me and I dropped to my knees while pain started to course over me. I had no idea what was happening, as I had never experienced this event before. As soon as I dropped to my knees, something grabbed me by my neck and I was yanked into the air. The grip was strong and it started to cut off my ability to breathe. I tried to move my limbs but nothing was responding for some reason!

"This is the height of Cryptis's creations and technology!?"

One of the voices taunted me as I tried to rationalize what was going on. Based on what was happening, there was only two logical remedies to this situation and none of them were optimal. One was succumbing to my enemy and letting my creator down and the other…..

_It's the only logical end, but it will cost my life_

I thought tensely with a minute trace of depression as something impaled my body. I didn't feel the pain oddly, but the moment the individual ripped its fist out of my chest, anger exploded through my body.

"Get off me!"

I yelled suddenly, kicking the individual who had impaled me so hard, the air displaced around me and I fell to the ground shaking slightly. I laid there for a moment, putting my hand to my chest to feel the blood that rarely manifested itself. The anger liked it and involuntarily, my hand went to my mouth and I licked the blood off of one of my fingers and got up, laughing quietly as I did.

_That's it;I've lost my mind!_

I exclaimed mentally with the uncontrollable giddiness that the Devil Gene influenced me with. I blinked a couple of times and rubbed the foreign substances from my eyes and the laser focus vision Cryptis gave me set itself into my eyes.

_Rojo, SuperCell, Caliente,the Shadow Stepper and Serpiente _

The voice said to me.

_Initiate command: Kill All_

The voice continued as my right hand went up to my neck.

_No, Stop!_

I cried mentally, but it was no use, my index claw twitched, which severed the string that held my limiter in place. As soon as the string was severed, a blue-black aura manifested itself as orange mist started to rise from my scales. For a moment, the cold black sphere I held brought some comfort before I clenched my hand into a fist, which shattered the orb. A shockwave of air went through the area, sending my opponents back a short distance as I felt the last of my natural self give into the power that rested in me.

"Command Received: proceeding to kill all organic life forms in the area!"

I shouted as I learned forwards while my arms went limp. My jaw tightened to much, some of my teeth shattered as my right hand started to glow a purple-black color.

"My name is the Raze Under Initiative Unit, the strongest creation of Cryptis; my purpose is to destroy anything that threatens the existence of my creator!"

I announced as I felt my heartbeat stop, which meant that this was my last fight. I slowly returned to my standing position with thunder resounding in the distance. The others looked up and as they did, a bolt of lighting flashed, blinding everyone for a moment, but I knew this lightning bolt was for me; it ended my transformation and jump started the changes needed for this form to function. When the light died down, I saw the others running at me as fast as they could, except for the human and the Shadow Stepper. I half smiled to myself and I took my stance for a moment before the others slid to a stop and all of us punched at the same time, our fists met, which sent the area into smoke, dust, fire, ashes, and into the crackling of electricity. There was no time for my mind to react, but it wasn't me who was fighting. A flash of yellow color that started a bicycle kick prompted me to duck. I lunged forward, narrowly missing a chop that was aimed for my neck. I backhanded Rojo, which sent the elbow that was meant for me into Caliente's face. Unphased, she resetted and while I was focused on that, a kick was driven into my left side which didn't move or hurt me. I leaned back, narrowly missing a projectile that was silver in color.

"This isn't your fight!"

I growled at the human, who shrugged.

"I can't have any fun?"

He asked with a shrug and as i was about to respond, a punch was driven into my back, knocking me forward a couple of steps from the force I was hit with. I felt something running down the left side of my mouth and involuntarily, I put my left hand up to feel what it was.

_More blood!_

The voice commanded me, which prompted me to turn and face my assailants once again, but this time, more anger coursed through me. I ducked a spinning jump kick and waited for the individual to land before driving a hate-filled punch into their face, which sent the individual reeling. The muscles in my legs tensed, and before I knew it, I was in the air about to terminate my target. Before I could comprehend that I wasn't moving, I was yanked backwards and slammed into the ground. I was stunned only for a moment, but that was the amount of time needed for me to the grabbed and thrown. I flew through the air for a moment before I impacted something that grunted on impact. Anger prompted me to get up, but I wasn't quick enough this time, as something landed to my left, which showered me with dust and dirt. The next moment, I was grabbed by my leg and was raised and slammed into the ground two times, once to the left and right of where I was laying. The second time I impacted the ground, I was stunned, and this gave my assailant time to start landing punches as I was pinned to the ground. After the third punch landed, my libs were able to move and I raised my arms quickly and crossed my arms together at my wrists and balled my hands into fists to block the punches I was receiving. The air displaced around us and I heard a grunt of pain that was followed by a large amount of pressure that compressed my chest inwards. I felt no pain, but the action was repeated three more times before I was able to roll away and reset into my fighting stance,but by the time I did, a flash of red color was seen from the corner of my left eye and instinctively, I reverse axe-kicked where the color was and my heel landed a clean hit. The individual hit the ground hard and groaned softly. I took a moment to smirk, which result in me being grabbed by my shoulders and turned abruptly to face another red blur that leaned back and headbutted me. Why this individual decieded to attack me like this confused me, and the time I took to be confused was enough for me to have the individual reset for another of the same attack. I smirked to myself and just as the individual brought their head forward, I spun around the back of the individual and took their head and brought it into another of my assailants fists. When the individual cried out, which cased ThunderHead to be confused for a moment, I vaulted over the individual I was holding and launched Caliente with a hate driven snap kick.

"Dodge this!"

A voice called out in a taunting fashion, which prompted me to turn quickly. The air started to crackle, which meant that my opponent was using an electrical based attack, which I instinctively used to set into a counter stance that would allow me to send their attack right back at them. The moment I got into the stance, I felt the impact of a large spherical object that pushed me back a short distance from the inertia this object wasn't enough to phase me, as I smirked, spun around two times and threw the large electrically charged sphere right back at ThunderHead, who had just brought her head up to smirk at me, believing that her attack had landed, but as soon as she realized I had countered her attack, it was too late and she started to say something, but the sphere impacted her and the area was once again thrown into a cloud of dust, dirt and ash.

"I don't dodge"

I growled and right after I finished my statement, I felt something brush my left shoulder. I whipped around to see what it was, but since the area was obscured with smoke, I thought I was hallucinating when I saw a long and thin line that resembled as tail floating into the thicker part of the smoke. The moment I tried to figure out what this was, something landed next to me, displacing some of the smoke. I didn't have time to react, but I somehow parried a punch and three roundhouse kicks, barely missing a jet kick from ThunderHead again. I stumbled a couple of steps backwards, almost losing my balance, which caused me to receive three punches from Caliente, a roundhouse kick from Rojo and a sweep from something I couldn't see. I started to fall backwards and my arm reached out without me telling it to and the moment my fingers brushed against something, my hand clamped down on whatever it was and I was launched from something that drove a kick into my right set of ribs, which sent me and what ever I was holding onto into a high paced barrel roll. By the time I stopped, I felt nauseous, but I was still able to move my limbs slightly. I tried to move, but by the time my limbs weren't numb anymore, my head was driven into the ground and laughter started to resound in my ears. It was slightly muffled and distorted, but it was laughter. It angered me, and before I could comprehend it, I was up, narrowly missing a large boulder that would've crushed me. Rojo was barrelling towards me, so I coiled the muscles in my legs and launched into the air to meet him. I could see the blankness in his eyes, which angered me. I blocked his punch and using his lost momentum, I swung him around me and I watched him slam into the ground. The air displaced around him and just as I started to fall, something impacted my back and my back bowed in from the force that I was hit with and before I knew it, I slammed intoRojo facefirst and something landed on top of me, which forced the air from my lungs, which caused Rojo and I to start coughing. Before I could catch my breath, I heard a cracking sound that was followed by pain, which a moment later I found to be someone repeatedly stomping on me with considerable force.

_ENOUGH!_

I screamed mentally, flying to my feet and grabbing whoever was stomping on me. I raised the individual into the air, and slammed them into Rojo, who was now motionless. The anger the drove me extended my arm in a flash and grabbed the yellow individual's leg and swung them around me twice to gain momentum and managed to hit Caliente and then Rojo as he struggled to get to his feet. She flew away from me and Rojo went sprawling to my left, groaning as he rolled. Since SuperCell was still falling, I grabbed her face with my right arm, punched her midsection three times, threw her into the air again, threw an inside and outside crescent kick that ended with me backhanding her midsection again which sent her spinning away from me. With the speed I knew wasn't mine, I sprinted over to where my victim had fallen and slammed my foot down on her chest, which caused her to cough weakly.

"Where should I start tearing you apart from!?"

I seethed as my mouth formed into a demonic smile. Her eyes fluttered weakly and just as I brought my foot up to complete the command I was given, a rad blur appeared at the corner of my right eye and I performed a roundhouse kick that sent Caliente spinning away from me. She rolled a short distance, but was somehow able to maneuver herself so that when the momentum that carried her along stopped, she fell into a kneeling position. She was breathing heavily and something was glowing slightly on her upper right arm.

"Come on now, go ahead and avenge your master"

Heavy breathing resounded all around as I struggled to move. Because I couldn't move, Ilet the pain overcome my senses and all of my limbs went numb, but as I let myself go, a voice that was loud and clear resound in my head.

_Raze Under Initiative Null Unit power cap removed: activate Cold Blooded Killer Drive!_

The voice stated tensely and then I finally understood who was speaking to me and why. Cryptis had been absorbed by someone that possessed the Cosmic Claw Fragment!

_That also means that his consciousness has been transferred into the claw fragment, leaving the husk of his body in reality!_

I thought tensely as I continued to try to get feeling back to my limbs. It was also then I realized what had happened and why.

"The Raze Under initiative Null Unit; supposedly the strongest creation that the United Chameleon Island Chain created still falls to an inferior species?"

The human's voice asked as the numbness started to go away. I didn't want to make any movements until I felt that the opportune moment came, which I didn't know if it would.

"I really thought your show of power would amaze me"

The voice continued as I was picked up by the back of my head. I groaned from the force that I was grabbed with and the speed that I was picked up by. Thankfully, my vision wasn't distorted and I met the human's sneering face. The odd article hid everything but his mouth, which showed a smile that sent a shiver down my spine.

"Supposedly, this form that you've taken allows your bones and muscle to be one hundred times stronger and your reaction time and dexterity to be twice that; so either you're not trying or you can't use this power; which one is it!?"

He asked angrily, shaking me slightly as my opponents lined up next to him on the left side of where he was standing. Without warning, he increased the grip of his hand and I clenched my teeth together from the pain as he flipped something into the air and caught it artistically with the hand he wasn't holding and held the blade to my throat. The cold metal caused me to shiver and my eyes moved themselves to look at Caliente. The human raised me up a short distance and turned around to hold me in front of her.

"Go ahead my servent, take the power that this individual possesses and do what you were created to"

He said ominously, but right after he finished this statement, power flew through me and I suddenly found myself a short distance from him and the others, holding Caliente by her neck with my right hand and with my left hand with all of my claws at her throat.

"Go ahead, see what it gets you"

She seethed, and a moment later, without me telling my body to, my left hand went through her neck and out the back of it, sending a gurgling sound through the area and a shower of blood onto my hand. The human twitched and others stood perfectly still as thin lines of black and red color started to come from her body and up to my upper right arm. As her body started to wither I started to laugh uncontrollably as I started to shake. The pain and numbness instantly vanished as something started to appear on my left arm and glow.

"Kill him, now!"

The creature next to the human commended SuperCell and Rojo tensely. They nodded slightly and they both launched at me. I smiled to myself and as they slid to a stop in front of me, with SuperCell throwing an inside crescent kick and Rojo throwing a punch, both of which I stopped with my right hand by directing her punch into Rojo's fist. Since I felt the elemental and magic energy as they were racing towards me, I decided that was my best option, but it wasn't me that was fighting and I constantly had to remind myself of this. They both staggered backwards and resetted, while I stood and crossed my arms in front of me in a taunting matter. Rojo was the first to react, throwing another punch that engulfed his fist in flame, which caught with my left hand, which was larger than his fist. He brought his head up to look at me and I saw his horrified expression that caused me to smile. I closed that hand into a fistt and heard multiple cracking sounds that caused him to cry out in pain as he tried to take his fist from my hand. With his other hand, he was able to strike the left side of my face. I felt the impact and my head moved to the left slightly. I growled deeply and used my left hand, made it into a fist and delivered an uppercut that snapped his head back that hit with to much force, he flew into the air, but before he was out of my reach, I grabbed him by his neck and slammed him back into the ground and roundhouse kicked him into SuperCell, who was looking at me with a dumbfounded expression. When Rojo slammed into SuperCell a loud cracking sound went through the area and they tumbled a short distance and when they stopped, were motionless. I thought I was going to walk over to them, but once again, this wasn't me, so before I knew it, I had picked up Rojo and put him on top of SuperCell, as they were both unconscious. I then brought my foot up and slammed down on his chest, which caved in slightly.

"There is no reason any of you should be spared!"

I yelled with hatred as I brought my head up to see the creature standing a few feet away from me. Since it was twilight, I could see some of its features with the most prominent the extensions that went from being its eyes and went up the sides of its face. It was sneering as if everything that had happened here was meaningless to it. That angered me and I increased the pressure of my foot somewhat and the individuals under my feet started to wheeze.

"If you kill them, you'll only be helping me"

It said with indifference as it shrugged and at that moment, a wave of pain coursed over me which caused me to lose my balance and stumble back a couple of steps. My arms went the sides of my head as all of my muscles started to tense.

_This is it; this is all the time you have left!_

The voice called to me as something loud and rhythmic started to resound in my head. I dropped my arms back to their sides and when my vision cleared, my opponents, SuperCell and Rojo were standing in front of me, holding their right clawed hands in front of their chests. Their middle claws were glowing so brightly, I had to look away.

"Claw Fragment Limit Modulators Activated"

They started in unison as the pain started to intensify. I balled my hands into fists and looked up into the multicolored sky. I knew that I had little time to finish what I was created to do, so I took a deep breath as I felt lines of heat crawl over my body. A flickering light manifested in the corner of my right eye as they started to speak again in unison.

"Infinite power ceiling released!"

They continued in unison and right after they finished their statement, the light became blidning, and I became lost in a sea of pain and yelling that increased in volume. A strong wind nearly knocked me over, but I was barely able to keep my balance as I shielded myself with my crossed arms as the light died down. The pain didn't, which kept me in reality. I rubbed my eyes and returned to my stance, knowing the next two actions I was going to take and since I was reaching the limit of my body's capability, I deeded to finish this on my first try. The two lights that dominated my vision were yellow and red in color that pulsed slightly.

"It makes no difference now"

I growled to myself as I felt the air displace, which prompted me to take a counter stance. Because I couldn't make anything distinguishable from my sight, I relied on the instinct my creator gave me. As soon as something impacted my chest, my right arm flashed upwards and grabbed something. The other arm followed and my vision cleared enough to see that I was holding them by their faces. I smiled to myself and slammed Rojo and SuperCell together so hard, something odd happened.

"No you fool; what are you doing!?"

The Shadow Stepper shrieked as they struggled weakly against my hold. I saw the Shadow Stepper running at me, but multiple lines of something that had erupted from the ground stopped him.

"There's no need"

The human stated as a flash of light went through the area. It didn't blind me, so I increased the pressure as I felt the two entities merge.

_I wasn't expecting this, but now all I need to do now is finished what I started_

I thought tensely as the light died down and I could see what had happened. There in front of me was an orb of light that that was orange and color that had an aura that was pulsing a weak yellow and red color.

"What have you done!?"

The creature shireked as I put my hand out to the orb. I could feel the magic energy that was compressed into this orb, which meant my plan was going to be successful. I needed this amount of energy for my plan and I now had only moments left to execute it.

"Sacrifices need to be made"

I growled to myself as the orb dropped into my hand where I held it for a moment before I made my hand into a fist, which shattered the sphere. The moment it broke, my mouth started to form words that shocked me.

"Experimental soul-pairing sequence intiated"

I said as my gaze dropped to the ground as a feeling of dread washed over me. A loud rattling sound filled the area that caused the ground me to shake violently as the pain spiked, which caused me to grit my teeth.

"Magic bridges connected: power coupler activated!"

I yelled suddenly as my head snapped up and I launched into a run where every one of my steps created a small explosion near my feet that sent smoke, embers, dust and ash into the air that blinded me, but I continued forward, not able to see my target, but sense it. Every step I took resounded in my body, which numbed the pain as I raced through the hazy air. As I ran, my vision became a sequence of memories with the time I spent in existance. From the moment I was given life, I knew that my purpose was to serve and protect my creator.

_I vowed that as my first words_

I reminded myself as my right arm drew backwards and my claws started to heat up for some reason.

_I will remain loyal to him_

I affirmed to myself as my arm thrust itself forwards and my claws impacted something cold and as soon as it did, a voice cried out.

"No; what are you doing!?"

The voice cried out as my arms started to tear away whatever these small and cold metallic items were. They broke apart easily and a stinging sensation that was similar to when Cryptis did tests on me that involved syringes coursed over my body. The sentimental thought flashed away as I tore the final layer of whatever these were away and I met the scared face of my enemy as I drew my arm back for what I knew was my final time.

"My master belongs to me, not you!"

I declared as I rammed my fist into his chest, which caved inwards and the momentum that carried me along caused me to stumble a short distance forward. I was able to keep my balance, but I fell to my knees as something landed roughly in front of me. The individual yelped and started into a coughing fit that brought relief to me.

"Thank you"

The individual said as my vision cleared. I didn't need to know who it was because I had been fighting for him this entire time.

"Go help the others"

I commanded him as I picked him up from the middle of his body and swung him two times around my body and let go. I saw his smiling face as I let go of him.

"You were a great and faithful bodyguard; given the chance, I will rebuild you"

He said as I surrendered to the power that was pressing against me,. The thought of his statement was the last thing I thought before an explosion resounded in my ears and in the same moment, I saw or felt nothing. My fate was sealed and I accepted it gladly, knowing that my purpose was fulfilled.

Chapter 3

Complications

Ruin's P.O.V.

His presence was near me and the energy that rested in me was itching for battle. The area that I had arrived at still had the tension of battle and my limiters were becoming weak.

_If I don't find Cryptis soon, I will perish!_

I reminded myself as my right arm lifted itself without me telling to and my hand went to one of the beads that ringed my neck. The one that my hand went felt sharp edges that signified that my limiter was close to failing. The cold material was some comfort, but I quickly brushed the sentiment away and let my mind return to what I was made for: protecting Cryptis at all costs. I casually pushed a tree to the side and I took in the sight of the area. Three individuals of the yoshi species were on the ground, accompanied by one individual of the chameleon species that was struggling to stay alive, one human and….him. Sparked by the influence of the Devil Gene and with the lust for battle that I was incapable of controlling drove me forward.

"So, that makes six"

The human said wistfully as the creature that I was created to destroy brought its right arm back and opened it, exposing wickedly sharp claws that glowed different colors. Without warning, a wave of anger, greed and unknown motivation coursed over me and I started to walk forward. My body started to twitch uncontrollably as I walked, moving by the will of my emotions and not my brain telling it to.

"You have some nerve to show up here, Raze Under Initiative Null unit!"

A voice called out to me, which stopped me cold and dead in my tracks. Wave after wave of cold and hot coursed up and down my body as the individuals who were standing turned to look at me. I could easily identify all of them: Shadow Stepper, Rojo, Emperor, ThunderHead, Lemon, Abyss, and…. Her. the Devil Gene reacted to the influences in the area and manifested itself by my body twitching.

_I'm not going to be able to control myself at this point!_

I thought tensely as something started to glow brilliantly, which was accompanied by a wave of magic energy that flooded the area. I was unsure of why this was happening and I knew that this wasn't going to go well. I knew that Cryptis was here, and at that moment, I lost control of my body. My consciousness was kicked to the corner of my mind and the Devil Gene took over, which meant that I had very little, if control over what happened next.

"Where…..is….he!?"

I seethed, shaking visibly as the light died down and my vision returned, which prompted me to take my fighting stance as I felt the familiar stinging sensation that coursed over my body, which meant that I was calibrating for battle. This included thickening my blood and increasing my muscle mass slightly and diverting blood to needed areas of my body and cutting circulation off to others that I didn't need. My question caused the human and the Shadow Stepper to chuckle.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

The Shadow Stepper declared as I finally noticed what had changed. Lemon and ThunderHead were missing and Rojo had changed to another form. With this minor confusion, I stiffened slightly and gave some of my attention to my surroundings.

"So, this is what you call allies?"

The Shadow Stepper asked as the lines that were wrapped around its hands started to uncoil and slither along the ground, which startled me somewhat, but I didn't let any of that concern me.

"I call them puppets; bags of flesh to do my bidding!"

The creature continued as I finally understood the gravity of the situation I had placed myself in: the Shadow Stepper had somehow unbound itself from the Abyssal Void and was now capable of moving between the two worlds _at will_.

_Wait! That means_

I thought tesnely as the creature continued while the wires climbed up the individuals of my species that were near it.

"You see, being the creator of something gives you full rights to treat what you've created however you want"

It continued with a smug look on its face as I watched the wires coil themselves around the necks of my acquaintances. I couldn't understand how I wasn't fighting at this point, but I could only narrow the possibilities down to having the minute control that I hypothesized that I had. The mist was darkening and I felt my neck starting to heat up.

_If I don't start releasing this energy soon_

I started to think, but I felt the air displaced and I felt a shockwave of energy pulse through me and with the speed that I possessed, I parried three attacks and resetted into my stance, where I found myself in the middle of a circle of individuals that was created by Rojo, something that looked like the combination of Lemon and ThunderHead and her. Off in the distance, I could see the Shadow Stepper and the human watching me, but there was another presence that I could feel, but couldn't pinpoint for some reason.

"Why will you not fight me yourself!?"

I growled loudly, which caused the ring of individuals around me to flinch. At that moment, a very faint voice resounded in my mind. I looked around wildly, and the ring of individuals around me started their assault. Rojo threw a punch that I directed into the combination of Lemon and ThunderHead. His punch impacted her axe-kick that sent the area into smoke, ash and embers. I used this to break away from the group and reset, but something drove an elbow into my chest and I slid backwards from the force that I was hit with.

"I surely haven't seen this before!"

The voice marveled as I strained to see through the billowing smoke that clouded my vision. I knew this voice and I didn't like it!

"It seems that you have something that doesn't belong to you"

The same voice said, changing to a tone that was somewhere between anger and a taunting fashion. Confused my this, my stance faltered and something sent me forwards and for the first time in a long time, I felt pain. I staggered forward a couple of steps and took my stance again shakily.

"This doesn't belong to you specifically"

I stated evenly, shifting my left eye to see behind me while my other eye focused on this individual. At this point, the frustration of being hit and feeling pain was starting to become overwhelming.

_Ruin_

The voice called again in my mind, which caused me to look around again. As soon as I took my eye of the individual, something impacted the side of my head, which sent me spinning off into the left, which meant that the attack had come from the right. I growled to myself as I hit the ground and quickly returned to my stance again, but this time, the individuals that had made the ring around me were laughing at something.

"Come on Ruin, you're not this bad at fighting!"

Rojo taunted me as I shook my head to clear some of the nausea that I was starting to experience. The combination of Thunderhead and Lemon also started to chuckle and at that moment, the nausea I was trying to control washed over me and I dropped to my knees while pain started to course over me. I had no idea what was happening, as I had never experienced this event before. As soon as I dropped to my knees, something grabbed me by my neck and I was yanked into the air. The grip was strong and it started to cut off my ability to breathe. I tried to move my limbs but nothing was responding for some reason!

"This is the height of Cryptis's creations and technology!?"

One of the voices taunted me as I tried to rationalize what was going on. Based on what was happening, there was only two logical remedies to this situation and none of them were optimal. One was succumbing to my enemy and letting my creator down and the other…..

_It's the only logical end, but it will cost my life_

I thought tensely with a minute trace of depression as something impaled my body. I didn't feel the pain oddly, but the moment the individual ripped its fist out of my chest, anger exploded through my body.

"Get off me!"

I yelled suddenly, kicking the individual who had impaled me so hard, the air displaced around me and I fell to the ground shaking slightly. I laid there for a moment, putting my hand to my chest to feel the blood that rarely manifested itself. The anger liked it and involuntarily, my hand went to my mouth and I licked the blood off of one of my fingers and got up, laughing quietly as I did.

_That's it;I've lost my mind!_

I exclaimed mentally with the uncontrollable giddiness that the Devil Gene influenced me with. I blinked a couple of times and rubbed the foreign substances from my eyes and the laser focus vision Cryptis gave me set itself into my eyes.

_Rojo, SuperCell, Caliente,the Shadow Stepper and Serpiente _

The voice said to me.

_Initiate command: Kill All_

The voice continued as my right hand went up to my neck.

_No, Stop!_

I cried mentally, but it was no use, my index claw twitched, which severed the string that held my limiter in place. As soon as the string was severed, a blue-black aura manifested itself as orange mist started to rise from my scales. For a moment, the cold black sphere I held brought some comfort before I clenched my hand into a fist, which shattered the orb. A shockwave of air went through the area, sending my opponents back a short distance as I felt the last of my natural self give into the power that rested in me.

"Command Received: proceeding to kill all organic life forms in the area!"

I shouted as I learned forwards while my arms went limp. My jaw tightened to much, some of my teeth shattered as my right hand started to glow a purple-black color.

"My name is the Raze Under Initiative Unit, the strongest creation of Cryptis; my purpose is to destroy anything that threatens the existence of my creator!"

I announced as I felt my heartbeat stop, which meant that this was my last fight. I slowly returned to my standing position with thunder resounding in the distance. The others looked up and as they did, a bolt of lighting flashed, blinding everyone for a moment, but I knew this lightning bolt was for me; it ended my transformation and jump started the changes needed for this form to function. When the light died down, I saw the others running at me as fast as they could, except for the human and the Shadow Stepper. I half smiled to myself and I took my stance for a moment before the others slid to a stop and all of us punched at the same time, our fists met, which sent the area into smoke, dust, fire, ashes, and into the crackling of electricity. There was no time for my mind to react, but it wasn't me who was fighting. A flash of yellow color that started a bicycle kick prompted me to duck. I lunged forward, narrowly missing a chop that was aimed for my neck. I backhanded Rojo, which sent the elbow that was meant for me into Caliente's face. Unphased, she resetted and while I was focused on that, a kick was driven into my left side which didn't move or hurt me. I leaned back, narrowly missing a projectile that was silver in color.

"This isn't your fight!"

I growled at the human, who shrugged.

"I can't have any fun?"

He asked with a shrug and as i was about to respond, a punch was driven into my back, knocking me forward a couple of steps from the force I was hit with. I felt something running down the left side of my mouth and involuntarily, I put my left hand up to feel what it was.

_More blood!_

The voice commanded me, which prompted me to turn and face my assailants once again, but this time, more anger coursed through me. I ducked a spinning jump kick and waited for the individual to land before driving a hate-filled punch into their face, which sent the individual reeling. The muscles in my legs tensed, and before I knew it, I was in the air about to terminate my target. Before I could comprehend that I wasn't moving, I was yanked backwards and slammed into the ground. I was stunned only for a moment, but that was the amount of time needed for me to the grabbed and thrown. I flew through the air for a moment before I impacted something that grunted on impact. Anger prompted me to get up, but I wasn't quick enough this time, as something landed to my left, which showered me with dust and dirt. The next moment, I was grabbed by my leg and was raised and slammed into the ground two times, once to the left and right of where I was laying. The second time I impacted the ground, I was stunned, and this gave my assailant time to start landing punches as I was pinned to the ground. After the third punch landed, my libs were able to move and I raised my arms quickly and crossed my arms together at my wrists and balled my hands into fists to block the punches I was receiving. The air displaced around us and I heard a grunt of pain that was followed by a large amount of pressure that compressed my chest inwards. I felt no pain, but the action was repeated three more times before I was able to roll away and reset into my fighting stance,but by the time I did, a flash of red color was seen from the corner of my left eye and instinctively, I reverse axe-kicked where the color was and my heel landed a clean hit. The individual hit the ground hard and groaned softly. I took a moment to smirk, which result in me being grabbed by my shoulders and turned abruptly to face another red blur that leaned back and headbutted me. Why this individual decieded to attack me like this confused me, and the time I took to be confused was enough for me to have the individual reset for another of the same attack. I smirked to myself and just as the individual brought their head forward, I spun around the back of the individual and took their head and brought it into another of my assailants fists. When the individual cried out, which cased ThunderHead to be confused for a moment, I vaulted over the individual I was holding and launched Caliente with a hate driven snap kick.

"Dodge this!"

A voice called out in a taunting fashion, which prompted me to turn quickly. The air started to crackle, which meant that my opponent was using an electrical based attack, which I instinctively used to set into a counter stance that would allow me to send their attack right back at them. The moment I got into the stance, I felt the impact of a large spherical object that pushed me back a short distance from the inertia this object wasn't enough to phase me, as I smirked, spun around two times and threw the large electrically charged sphere right back at ThunderHead, who had just brought her head up to smirk at me, believing that her attack had landed, but as soon as she realized I had countered her attack, it was too late and she started to say something, but the sphere impacted her and the area was once again thrown into a cloud of dust, dirt and ash.

"I don't dodge"

I growled and right after I finished my statement, I felt something brush my left shoulder. I whipped around to see what it was, but since the area was obscured with smoke, I thought I was hallucinating when I saw a long and thin line that resembled as tail floating into the thicker part of the smoke. The moment I tried to figure out what this was, something landed next to me, displacing some of the smoke. I didn't have time to react, but I somehow parried a punch and three roundhouse kicks, barely missing a jet kick from ThunderHead again. I stumbled a couple of steps backwards, almost losing my balance, which caused me to receive three punches from Caliente, a roundhouse kick from Rojo and a sweep from something I couldn't see. I started to fall backwards and my arm reached out without me telling it to and the moment my fingers brushed against something, my hand clamped down on whatever it was and I was launched from something that drove a kick into my right set of ribs, which sent me and what ever I was holding onto into a high paced barrel roll. By the time I stopped, I felt nauseous, but I was still able to move my limbs slightly. I tried to move, but by the time my limbs weren't numb anymore, my head was driven into the ground and laughter started to resound in my ears. It was slightly muffled and distorted, but it was laughter. It angered me, and before I could comprehend it, I was up, narrowly missing a large boulder that would've crushed me. Rojo was barrelling towards me, so I coiled the muscles in my legs and launched into the air to meet him. I could see the blankness in his eyes, which angered me. I blocked his punch and using his lost momentum, I swung him around me and I watched him slam into the ground. The air displaced around him and just as I started to fall, something impacted my back and my back bowed in from the force that I was hit with and before I knew it, I slammed intoRojo facefirst and something landed on top of me, which forced the air from my lungs, which caused Rojo and I to start coughing. Before I could catch my breath, I heard a cracking sound that was followed by pain, which a moment later I found to be someone repeatedly stomping on me with considerable force.

_ENOUGH!_

I screamed mentally, flying to my feet and grabbing whoever was stomping on me. I raised the individual into the air, and slammed them into Rojo, who was now motionless. The anger the drove me extended my arm in a flash and grabbed the yellow individual's leg and swung them around me twice to gain momentum and managed to hit Caliente and then Rojo as he struggled to get to his feet. She flew away from me and Rojo went sprawling to my left, groaning as he rolled. Since SuperCell was still falling, I grabbed her face with my right arm, punched her midsection three times, threw her into the air again, threw an inside and outside crescent kick that ended with me backhanding her midsection again which sent her spinning away from me. With the speed I knew wasn't mine, I sprinted over to where my victim had fallen and slammed my foot down on her chest, which caused her to cough weakly.

"Where should I start tearing you apart from!?"

I seethed as my mouth formed into a demonic smile. Her eyes fluttered weakly and just as I brought my foot up to complete the command I was given, a rad blur appeared at the corner of my right eye and I performed a roundhouse kick that sent Caliente spinning away from me. She rolled a short distance, but was somehow able to maneuver herself so that when the momentum that carried her along stopped, she fell into a kneeling position. She was breathing heavily and something was glowing slightly on her upper right arm.

"Come on now, go ahead and avenge your master"

Heavy breathing resounded all around as I struggled to move. Because I couldn't move, Ilet the pain overcome my senses and all of my limbs went numb, but as I let myself go, a voice that was loud and clear resound in my head.

_Raze Under Initiative Null Unit power cap removed: activate Cold Blooded Killer Drive!_

The voice stated tensely and then I finally understood who was speaking to me and why. Cryptis had been absorbed by someone that possessed the Cosmic Claw Fragment!

_That also means that his consciousness has been transferred into the claw fragment, leaving the husk of his body in reality!_

I thought tensely as I continued to try to get feeling back to my limbs. It was also then I realized what had happened and why.

"The Raze Under initiative Null Unit; supposedly the strongest creation that the United Chameleon Island Chain created still falls to an inferior species?"

The human's voice asked as the numbness started to go away. I didn't want to make any movements until I felt that the opportune moment came, which I didn't know if it would.

"I really thought your show of power would amaze me"

The voice continued as I was picked up by the back of my head. I groaned from the force that I was grabbed with and the speed that I was picked up by. Thankfully, my vision wasn't distorted and I met the human's sneering face. The odd article hid everything but his mouth, which showed a smile that sent a shiver down my spine.

"Supposedly, this form that you've taken allows your bones and muscle to be one hundred times stronger and your reaction time and dexterity to be twice that; so either you're not trying or you can't use this power; which one is it!?"

He asked angrily, shaking me slightly as my opponents lined up next to him on the left side of where he was standing. Without warning, he increased the grip of his hand and I clenched my teeth together from the pain as he flipped something into the air and caught it artistically with the hand he wasn't holding and held the blade to my throat. The cold metal caused me to shiver and my eyes moved themselves to look at Caliente. The human raised me up a short distance and turned around to hold me in front of her.

"Go ahead my servent, take the power that this individual possesses and do what you were created to"

He said ominously, but right after he finished this statement, power flew through me and I suddenly found myself a short distance from him and the others, holding Caliente by her neck with my right hand and with my left hand with all of my claws at her throat.

"Go ahead, see what it gets you"

She seethed, and a moment later, without me telling my body to, my left hand went through her neck and out the back of it, sending a gurgling sound through the area and a shower of blood onto my hand. The human twitched and others stood perfectly still as thin lines of black and red color started to come from her body and up to my upper right arm. As her body started to wither I started to laugh uncontrollably as I started to shake. The pain and numbness instantly vanished as something started to appear on my left arm and glow.

"Kill him, now!"

The creature next to the human commended SuperCell and Rojo tensely. They nodded slightly and they both launched at me. I smiled to myself and as they slid to a stop in front of me, with SuperCell throwing an inside crescent kick and Rojo throwing a punch, both of which I stopped with my right hand by directing her punch into Rojo's fist. Since I felt the elemental and magic energy as they were racing towards me, I decided that was my best option, but it wasn't me that was fighting and I constantly had to remind myself of this. They both staggered backwards and resetted, while I stood and crossed my arms in front of me in a taunting matter. Rojo was the first to react, throwing another punch that engulfed his fist in flame, which caught with my left hand, which was larger than his fist. He brought his head up to look at me and I saw his horrified expression that caused me to smile. I closed that hand into a fistt and heard multiple cracking sounds that caused him to cry out in pain as he tried to take his fist from my hand. With his other hand, he was able to strike the left side of my face. I felt the impact and my head moved to the left slightly. I growled deeply and used my left hand, made it into a fist and delivered an uppercut that snapped his head back that hit with to much force, he flew into the air, but before he was out of my reach, I grabbed him by his neck and slammed him back into the ground and roundhouse kicked him into SuperCell, who was looking at me with a dumbfounded expression. When Rojo slammed into SuperCell a loud cracking sound went through the area and they tumbled a short distance and when they stopped, were motionless. I thought I was going to walk over to them, but once again, this wasn't me, so before I knew it, I had picked up Rojo and put him on top of SuperCell, as they were both unconscious. I then brought my foot up and slammed down on his chest, which caved in slightly.

"There is no reason any of you should be spared!"

I yelled with hatred as I brought my head up to see the creature standing a few feet away from me. Since it was twilight, I could see some of its features with the most prominent the extensions that went from being its eyes and went up the sides of its face. It was sneering as if everything that had happened here was meaningless to it. That angered me and I increased the pressure of my foot somewhat and the individuals under my feet started to wheeze.

"If you kill them, you'll only be helping me"

It said with indifference as it shrugged and at that moment, a wave of pain coursed over me which caused me to lose my balance and stumble back a couple of steps. My arms went the sides of my head as all of my muscles started to tense.

_This is it; this is all the time you have left!_

The voice called to me as something loud and rhythmic started to resound in my head. I dropped my arms back to their sides and when my vision cleared, my opponents, SuperCell and Rojo were standing in front of me, holding their right clawed hands in front of their chests. Their middle claws were glowing so brightly, I had to look away.

"Claw Fragment Limit Modulators Activated"

They started in unison as the pain started to intensify. I balled my hands into fists and looked up into the multicolored sky. I knew that I had little time to finish what I was created to do, so I took a deep breath as I felt lines of heat crawl over my body. A flickering light manifested in the corner of my right eye as they started to speak again in unison.

"Infinite power ceiling released!"

They continued in unison and right after they finished their statement, the light became blidning, and I became lost in a sea of pain and yelling that increased in volume. A strong wind nearly knocked me over, but I was barely able to keep my balance as I shielded myself with my crossed arms as the light died down. The pain didn't, which kept me in reality. I rubbed my eyes and returned to my stance, knowing the next two actions I was going to take and since I was reaching the limit of my body's capability, I deeded to finish this on my first try. The two lights that dominated my vision were yellow and red in color that pulsed slightly.

"It makes no difference now"

I growled to myself as I felt the air displace, which prompted me to take a counter stance. Because I couldn't make anything distinguishable from my sight, I relied on the instinct my creator gave me. As soon as something impacted my chest, my right arm flashed upwards and grabbed something. The other arm followed and my vision cleared enough to see that I was holding them by their faces. I smiled to myself and slammed Rojo and SuperCell together so hard, something odd happened.

"No you fool; what are you doing!?"

The Shadow Stepper shrieked as they struggled weakly against my hold. I saw the Shadow Stepper running at me, but multiple lines of something that had erupted from the ground stopped him.

"There's no need"

The human stated as a flash of light went through the area. It didn't blind me, so I increased the pressure as I felt the two entities merge.

_I wasn't expecting this, but now all I need to do now is finished what I started_

I thought tensely as the light died down and I could see what had happened. There in front of me was an orb of light that that was orange and color that had an aura that was pulsing a weak yellow and red color.

"What have you done!?"

The creature shireked as I put my hand out to the orb. I could feel the magic energy that was compressed into this orb, which meant my plan was going to be successful. I needed this amount of energy for my plan and I now had only moments left to execute it.

"Sacrifices need to be made"

I growled to myself as the orb dropped into my hand where I held it for a moment before I made my hand into a fist, which shattered the sphere. The moment it broke, my mouth started to form words that shocked me.

"Experimental soul-pairing sequence intiated"

I said as my gaze dropped to the ground as a feeling of dread washed over me. A loud rattling sound filled the area that caused the ground me to shake violently as the pain spiked, which caused me to grit my teeth.

"Magic bridges connected: power coupler activated!"

I yelled suddenly as my head snapped up and I launched into a run where every one of my steps created a small explosion near my feet that sent smoke, embers, dust and ash into the air that blinded me, but I continued forward, not able to see my target, but sense it. Every step I took resounded in my body, which numbed the pain as I raced through the hazy air. As I ran, my vision became a sequence of memories with the time I spent in existance. From the moment I was given life, I knew that my purpose was to serve and protect my creator.

_I vowed that as my first words_

I reminded myself as my right arm drew backwards and my claws started to heat up for some reason.

_I will remain loyal to him_

I affirmed to myself as my arm thrust itself forwards and my claws impacted something cold and as soon as it did, a voice cried out.

"No; what are you doing!?"

The voice cried out as my arms started to tear away whatever these small and cold metallic items were. They broke apart easily and a stinging sensation that was similar to when Cryptis did tests on me that involved syringes coursed over my body. The sentimental thought flashed away as I tore the final layer of whatever these were away and I met the scared face of my enemy as I drew my arm back for what I knew was my final time.

"My master belongs to me, not you!"

I declared as I rammed my fist into his chest, which caved inwards and the momentum that carried me along caused me to stumble a short distance forward. I was able to keep my balance, but I fell to my knees as something landed roughly in front of me. The individual yelped and started into a coughing fit that brought relief to me.

"Thank you"

The individual said as my vision cleared. I didn't need to know who it was because I had been fighting for him this entire time.

"Go help the others"

I commanded him as I picked him up from the middle of his body and swung him two times around my body and let go. I saw his smiling face as I let go of him.

"You were a great and faithful bodyguard; given the chance, I will rebuild you"

He said as I surrendered to the power that was pressing against me,. The thought of his statement was the last thing I thought before an explosion resounded in my ears and in the same moment, I saw or felt nothing. My fate was sealed and I accepted it gladly, knowing that my purpose was fulfilled.

Chapter 3

Complications

Ruin's P.O.V.

His presence was near me and the energy that rested in me was itching for battle. The area that I had arrived at still had the tension of battle and my limiters were becoming weak.

_If I don't find Cryptis soon, I will perish!_

I reminded myself as my right arm lifted itself without me telling to and my hand went to one of the beads that ringed my neck. The one that my hand went felt sharp edges that signified that my limiter was close to failing. The cold material was some comfort, but I quickly brushed the sentiment away and let my mind return to what I was made for: protecting Cryptis at all costs. I casually pushed a tree to the side and I took in the sight of the area. Three individuals of the yoshi species were on the ground, accompanied by one individual of the chameleon species that was struggling to stay alive, one human and….him. Sparked by the influence of the Devil Gene and with the lust for battle that I was incapable of controlling drove me forward.

"So, that makes six"

The human said wistfully as the creature that I was created to destroy brought its right arm back and opened it, exposing wickedly sharp claws that glowed different colors. Without warning, a wave of anger, greed and unknown motivation coursed over me and I started to walk forward. My body started to twitch uncontrollably as I walked, moving by the will of my emotions and not my brain telling it to.

"You have some nerve to show up here, Raze Under Initiative Null unit!"

A voice called out to me, which stopped me cold and dead in my tracks. Wave after wave of cold and hot coursed up and down my body as the individuals who were standing turned to look at me. I could easily identify all of them: Shadow Stepper, Rojo, Emperor, ThunderHead, Lemon, Abyss, and…. Her. the Devil Gene reacted to the influences in the area and manifested itself by my body twitching.

_I'm not going to be able to control myself at this point!_

I thought tensely as something started to glow brilliantly, which was accompanied by a wave of magic energy that flooded the area. I was unsure of why this was happening and I knew that this wasn't going to go well. I knew that Cryptis was here, and at that moment, I lost control of my body. My consciousness was kicked to the corner of my mind and the Devil Gene took over, which meant that I had very little, if control over what happened next.

"Where…..is….he!?"

I seethed, shaking visibly as the light died down and my vision returned, which prompted me to take my fighting stance as I felt the familiar stinging sensation that coursed over my body, which meant that I was calibrating for battle. This included thickening my blood and increasing my muscle mass slightly and diverting blood to needed areas of my body and cutting circulation off to others that I didn't need. My question caused the human and the Shadow Stepper to chuckle.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

The Shadow Stepper declared as I finally noticed what had changed. Lemon and ThunderHead were missing and Rojo had changed to another form. With this minor confusion, I stiffened slightly and gave some of my attention to my surroundings.

"So, this is what you call allies?"

The Shadow Stepper asked as the lines that were wrapped around its hands started to uncoil and slither along the ground, which startled me somewhat, but I didn't let any of that concern me.

"I call them puppets; bags of flesh to do my bidding!"

The creature continued as I finally understood the gravity of the situation I had placed myself in: the Shadow Stepper had somehow unbound itself from the Abyssal Void and was now capable of moving between the two worlds _at will_.

_Wait! That means_

I thought tesnely as the creature continued while the wires climbed up the individuals of my species that were near it.

"You see, being the creator of something gives you full rights to treat what you've created however you want"

It continued with a smug look on its face as I watched the wires coil themselves around the necks of my acquaintances. I couldn't understand how I wasn't fighting at this point, but I could only narrow the possibilities down to having the minute control that I hypothesized that I had. The mist was darkening and I felt my neck starting to heat up.

_If I don't start releasing this energy soon_

I started to think, but I felt the air displaced and I felt a shockwave of energy pulse through me and with the speed that I possessed, I parried three attacks and resetted into my stance, where I found myself in the middle of a circle of individuals that was created by Rojo, something that looked like the combination of Lemon and ThunderHead and her. Off in the distance, I could see the Shadow Stepper and the human watching me, but there was another presence that I could feel, but couldn't pinpoint for some reason.

"Why will you not fight me yourself!?"

I growled loudly, which caused the ring of individuals around me to flinch. At that moment, a very faint voice resounded in my mind. I looked around wildly, and the ring of individuals around me started their assault. Rojo threw a punch that I directed into the combination of Lemon and ThunderHead. His punch impacted her axe-kick that sent the area into smoke, ash and embers. I used this to break away from the group and reset, but something drove an elbow into my chest and I slid backwards from the force that I was hit with.

"I surely haven't seen this before!"

The voice marveled as I strained to see through the billowing smoke that clouded my vision. I knew this voice and I didn't like it!

"It seems that you have something that doesn't belong to you"

The same voice said, changing to a tone that was somewhere between anger and a taunting fashion. Confused my this, my stance faltered and something sent me forwards and for the first time in a long time, I felt pain. I staggered forward a couple of steps and took my stance again shakily.

"This doesn't belong to you specifically"

I stated evenly, shifting my left eye to see behind me while my other eye focused on this individual. At this point, the frustration of being hit and feeling pain was starting to become overwhelming.

_Ruin_

The voice called again in my mind, which caused me to look around again. As soon as I took my eye of the individual, something impacted the side of my head, which sent me spinning off into the left, which meant that the attack had come from the right. I growled to myself as I hit the ground and quickly returned to my stance again, but this time, the individuals that had made the ring around me were laughing at something.

"Come on Ruin, you're not this bad at fighting!"

Rojo taunted me as I shook my head to clear some of the nausea that I was starting to experience. The combination of Thunderhead and Lemon also started to chuckle and at that moment, the nausea I was trying to control washed over me and I dropped to my knees while pain started to course over me. I had no idea what was happening, as I had never experienced this event before. As soon as I dropped to my knees, something grabbed me by my neck and I was yanked into the air. The grip was strong and it started to cut off my ability to breathe. I tried to move my limbs but nothing was responding for some reason!

"This is the height of Cryptis's creations and technology!?"

One of the voices taunted me as I tried to rationalize what was going on. Based on what was happening, there was only two logical remedies to this situation and none of them were optimal. One was succumbing to my enemy and letting my creator down and the other…..

_It's the only logical end, but it will cost my life_

I thought tensely with a minute trace of depression as something impaled my body. I didn't feel the pain oddly, but the moment the individual ripped its fist out of my chest, anger exploded through my body.

"Get off me!"

I yelled suddenly, kicking the individual who had impaled me so hard, the air displaced around me and I fell to the ground shaking slightly. I laid there for a moment, putting my hand to my chest to feel the blood that rarely manifested itself. The anger liked it and involuntarily, my hand went to my mouth and I licked the blood off of one of my fingers and got up, laughing quietly as I did.

_That's it;I've lost my mind!_

I exclaimed mentally with the uncontrollable giddiness that the Devil Gene influenced me with. I blinked a couple of times and rubbed the foreign substances from my eyes and the laser focus vision Cryptis gave me set itself into my eyes.

_Rojo, SuperCell, Caliente,the Shadow Stepper and Serpiente _

The voice said to me.

_Initiate command: Kill All_

The voice continued as my right hand went up to my neck.

_No, Stop!_

I cried mentally, but it was no use, my index claw twitched, which severed the string that held my limiter in place. As soon as the string was severed, a blue-black aura manifested itself as orange mist started to rise from my scales. For a moment, the cold black sphere I held brought some comfort before I clenched my hand into a fist, which shattered the orb. A shockwave of air went through the area, sending my opponents back a short distance as I felt the last of my natural self give into the power that rested in me.

"Command Received: proceeding to kill all organic life forms in the area!"

I shouted as I learned forwards while my arms went limp. My jaw tightened to much, some of my teeth shattered as my right hand started to glow a purple-black color.

"My name is the Raze Under Initiative Unit, the strongest creation of Cryptis; my purpose is to destroy anything that threatens the existence of my creator!"

I announced as I felt my heartbeat stop, which meant that this was my last fight. I slowly returned to my standing position with thunder resounding in the distance. The others looked up and as they did, a bolt of lighting flashed, blinding everyone for a moment, but I knew this lightning bolt was for me; it ended my transformation and jump started the changes needed for this form to function. When the light died down, I saw the others running at me as fast as they could, except for the human and the Shadow Stepper. I half smiled to myself and I took my stance for a moment before the others slid to a stop and all of us punched at the same time, our fists met, which sent the area into smoke, dust, fire, ashes, and into the crackling of electricity. There was no time for my mind to react, but it wasn't me who was fighting. A flash of yellow color that started a bicycle kick prompted me to duck. I lunged forward, narrowly missing a chop that was aimed for my neck. I backhanded Rojo, which sent the elbow that was meant for me into Caliente's face. Unphased, she resetted and while I was focused on that, a kick was driven into my left side which didn't move or hurt me. I leaned back, narrowly missing a projectile that was silver in color.

"This isn't your fight!"

I growled at the human, who shrugged.

"I can't have any fun?"

He asked with a shrug and as i was about to respond, a punch was driven into my back, knocking me forward a couple of steps from the force I was hit with. I felt something running down the left side of my mouth and involuntarily, I put my left hand up to feel what it was.

_More blood!_

The voice commanded me, which prompted me to turn and face my assailants once again, but this time, more anger coursed through me. I ducked a spinning jump kick and waited for the individual to land before driving a hate-filled punch into their face, which sent the individual reeling. The muscles in my legs tensed, and before I knew it, I was in the air about to terminate my target. Before I could comprehend that I wasn't moving, I was yanked backwards and slammed into the ground. I was stunned only for a moment, but that was the amount of time needed for me to the grabbed and thrown. I flew through the air for a moment before I impacted something that grunted on impact. Anger prompted me to get up, but I wasn't quick enough this time, as something landed to my left, which showered me with dust and dirt. The next moment, I was grabbed by my leg and was raised and slammed into the ground two times, once to the left and right of where I was laying. The second time I impacted the ground, I was stunned, and this gave my assailant time to start landing punches as I was pinned to the ground. After the third punch landed, my libs were able to move and I raised my arms quickly and crossed my arms together at my wrists and balled my hands into fists to block the punches I was receiving. The air displaced around us and I heard a grunt of pain that was followed by a large amount of pressure that compressed my chest inwards. I felt no pain, but the action was repeated three more times before I was able to roll away and reset into my fighting stance,but by the time I did, a flash of red color was seen from the corner of my left eye and instinctively, I reverse axe-kicked where the color was and my heel landed a clean hit. The individual hit the ground hard and groaned softly. I took a moment to smirk, which result in me being grabbed by my shoulders and turned abruptly to face another red blur that leaned back and headbutted me. Why this individual decieded to attack me like this confused me, and the time I took to be confused was enough for me to have the individual reset for another of the same attack. I smirked to myself and just as the individual brought their head forward, I spun around the back of the individual and took their head and brought it into another of my assailants fists. When the individual cried out, which cased ThunderHead to be confused for a moment, I vaulted over the individual I was holding and launched Caliente with a hate driven snap kick.

"Dodge this!"

A voice called out in a taunting fashion, which prompted me to turn quickly. The air started to crackle, which meant that my opponent was using an electrical based attack, which I instinctively used to set into a counter stance that would allow me to send their attack right back at them. The moment I got into the stance, I felt the impact of a large spherical object that pushed me back a short distance from the inertia this object wasn't enough to phase me, as I smirked, spun around two times and threw the large electrically charged sphere right back at ThunderHead, who had just brought her head up to smirk at me, believing that her attack had landed, but as soon as she realized I had countered her attack, it was too late and she started to say something, but the sphere impacted her and the area was once again thrown into a cloud of dust, dirt and ash.

"I don't dodge"

I growled and right after I finished my statement, I felt something brush my left shoulder. I whipped around to see what it was, but since the area was obscured with smoke, I thought I was hallucinating when I saw a long and thin line that resembled as tail floating into the thicker part of the smoke. The moment I tried to figure out what this was, something landed next to me, displacing some of the smoke. I didn't have time to react, but I somehow parried a punch and three roundhouse kicks, barely missing a jet kick from ThunderHead again. I stumbled a couple of steps backwards, almost losing my balance, which caused me to receive three punches from Caliente, a roundhouse kick from Rojo and a sweep from something I couldn't see. I started to fall backwards and my arm reached out without me telling it to and the moment my fingers brushed against something, my hand clamped down on whatever it was and I was launched from something that drove a kick into my right set of ribs, which sent me and what ever I was holding onto into a high paced barrel roll. By the time I stopped, I felt nauseous, but I was still able to move my limbs slightly. I tried to move, but by the time my limbs weren't numb anymore, my head was driven into the ground and laughter started to resound in my ears. It was slightly muffled and distorted, but it was laughter. It angered me, and before I could comprehend it, I was up, narrowly missing a large boulder that would've crushed me. Rojo was barrelling towards me, so I coiled the muscles in my legs and launched into the air to meet him. I could see the blankness in his eyes, which angered me. I blocked his punch and using his lost momentum, I swung him around me and I watched him slam into the ground. The air displaced around him and just as I started to fall, something impacted my back and my back bowed in from the force that I was hit with and before I knew it, I slammed intoRojo facefirst and something landed on top of me, which forced the air from my lungs, which caused Rojo and I to start coughing. Before I could catch my breath, I heard a cracking sound that was followed by pain, which a moment later I found to be someone repeatedly stomping on me with considerable force.

_ENOUGH!_

I screamed mentally, flying to my feet and grabbing whoever was stomping on me. I raised the individual into the air, and slammed them into Rojo, who was now motionless. The anger the drove me extended my arm in a flash and grabbed the yellow individual's leg and swung them around me twice to gain momentum and managed to hit Caliente and then Rojo as he struggled to get to his feet. She flew away from me and Rojo went sprawling to my left, groaning as he rolled. Since SuperCell was still falling, I grabbed her face with my right arm, punched her midsection three times, threw her into the air again, threw an inside and outside crescent kick that ended with me backhanding her midsection again which sent her spinning away from me. With the speed I knew wasn't mine, I sprinted over to where my victim had fallen and slammed my foot down on her chest, which caused her to cough weakly.

"Where should I start tearing you apart from!?"

I seethed as my mouth formed into a demonic smile. Her eyes fluttered weakly and just as I brought my foot up to complete the command I was given, a rad blur appeared at the corner of my right eye and I performed a roundhouse kick that sent Caliente spinning away from me. She rolled a short distance, but was somehow able to maneuver herself so that when the momentum that carried her along stopped, she fell into a kneeling position. She was breathing heavily and something was glowing slightly on her upper right arm.

"Come on now, go ahead and avenge your master"

Heavy breathing resounded all around as I struggled to move. Because I couldn't move, Ilet the pain overcome my senses and all of my limbs went numb, but as I let myself go, a voice that was loud and clear resound in my head.

_Raze Under Initiative Null Unit power cap removed: activate Cold Blooded Killer Drive!_

The voice stated tensely and then I finally understood who was speaking to me and why. Cryptis had been absorbed by someone that possessed the Cosmic Claw Fragment!

_That also means that his consciousness has been transferred into the claw fragment, leaving the husk of his body in reality!_

I thought tensely as I continued to try to get feeling back to my limbs. It was also then I realized what had happened and why.

"The Raze Under initiative Null Unit; supposedly the strongest creation that the United Chameleon Island Chain created still falls to an inferior species?"

The human's voice asked as the numbness started to go away. I didn't want to make any movements until I felt that the opportune moment came, which I didn't know if it would.

"I really thought your show of power would amaze me"

The voice continued as I was picked up by the back of my head. I groaned from the force that I was grabbed with and the speed that I was picked up by. Thankfully, my vision wasn't distorted and I met the human's sneering face. The odd article hid everything but his mouth, which showed a smile that sent a shiver down my spine.

"Supposedly, this form that you've taken allows your bones and muscle to be one hundred times stronger and your reaction time and dexterity to be twice that; so either you're not trying or you can't use this power; which one is it!?"

He asked angrily, shaking me slightly as my opponents lined up next to him on the left side of where he was standing. Without warning, he increased the grip of his hand and I clenched my teeth together from the pain as he flipped something into the air and caught it artistically with the hand he wasn't holding and held the blade to my throat. The cold metal caused me to shiver and my eyes moved themselves to look at Caliente. The human raised me up a short distance and turned around to hold me in front of her.

"Go ahead my servent, take the power that this individual possesses and do what you were created to"

He said ominously, but right after he finished this statement, power flew through me and I suddenly found myself a short distance from him and the others, holding Caliente by her neck with my right hand and with my left hand with all of my claws at her throat.

"Go ahead, see what it gets you"

She seethed, and a moment later, without me telling my body to, my left hand went through her neck and out the back of it, sending a gurgling sound through the area and a shower of blood onto my hand. The human twitched and others stood perfectly still as thin lines of black and red color started to come from her body and up to my upper right arm. As her body started to wither I started to laugh uncontrollably as I started to shake. The pain and numbness instantly vanished as something started to appear on my left arm and glow.

"Kill him, now!"

The creature next to the human commended SuperCell and Rojo tensely. They nodded slightly and they both launched at me. I smiled to myself and as they slid to a stop in front of me, with SuperCell throwing an inside crescent kick and Rojo throwing a punch, both of which I stopped with my right hand by directing her punch into Rojo's fist. Since I felt the elemental and magic energy as they were racing towards me, I decided that was my best option, but it wasn't me that was fighting and I constantly had to remind myself of this. They both staggered backwards and resetted, while I stood and crossed my arms in front of me in a taunting matter. Rojo was the first to react, throwing another punch that engulfed his fist in flame, which caught with my left hand, which was larger than his fist. He brought his head up to look at me and I saw his horrified expression that caused me to smile. I closed that hand into a fistt and heard multiple cracking sounds that caused him to cry out in pain as he tried to take his fist from my hand. With his other hand, he was able to strike the left side of my face. I felt the impact and my head moved to the left slightly. I growled deeply and used my left hand, made it into a fist and delivered an uppercut that snapped his head back that hit with to much force, he flew into the air, but before he was out of my reach, I grabbed him by his neck and slammed him back into the ground and roundhouse kicked him into SuperCell, who was looking at me with a dumbfounded expression. When Rojo slammed into SuperCell a loud cracking sound went through the area and they tumbled a short distance and when they stopped, were motionless. I thought I was going to walk over to them, but once again, this wasn't me, so before I knew it, I had picked up Rojo and put him on top of SuperCell, as they were both unconscious. I then brought my foot up and slammed down on his chest, which caved in slightly.

"There is no reason any of you should be spared!"

I yelled with hatred as I brought my head up to see the creature standing a few feet away from me. Since it was twilight, I could see some of its features with the most prominent the extensions that went from being its eyes and went up the sides of its face. It was sneering as if everything that had happened here was meaningless to it. That angered me and I increased the pressure of my foot somewhat and the individuals under my feet started to wheeze.

"If you kill them, you'll only be helping me"

It said with indifference as it shrugged and at that moment, a wave of pain coursed over me which caused me to lose my balance and stumble back a couple of steps. My arms went the sides of my head as all of my muscles started to tense.

_This is it; this is all the time you have left!_

The voice called to me as something loud and rhythmic started to resound in my head. I dropped my arms back to their sides and when my vision cleared, my opponents, SuperCell and Rojo were standing in front of me, holding their right clawed hands in front of their chests. Their middle claws were glowing so brightly, I had to look away.

"Claw Fragment Limit Modulators Activated"

They started in unison as the pain started to intensify. I balled my hands into fists and looked up into the multicolored sky. I knew that I had little time to finish what I was created to do, so I took a deep breath as I felt lines of heat crawl over my body. A flickering light manifested in the corner of my right eye as they started to speak again in unison.

"Infinite power ceiling released!"

They continued in unison and right after they finished their statement, the light became blidning, and I became lost in a sea of pain and yelling that increased in volume. A strong wind nearly knocked me over, but I was barely able to keep my balance as I shielded myself with my crossed arms as the light died down. The pain didn't, which kept me in reality. I rubbed my eyes and returned to my stance, knowing the next two actions I was going to take and since I was reaching the limit of my body's capability, I deeded to finish this on my first try. The two lights that dominated my vision were yellow and red in color that pulsed slightly.

"It makes no difference now"

I growled to myself as I felt the air displace, which prompted me to take a counter stance. Because I couldn't make anything distinguishable from my sight, I relied on the instinct my creator gave me. As soon as something impacted my chest, my right arm flashed upwards and grabbed something. The other arm followed and my vision cleared enough to see that I was holding them by their faces. I smiled to myself and slammed Rojo and SuperCell together so hard, something odd happened.

"No you fool; what are you doing!?"

The Shadow Stepper shrieked as they struggled weakly against my hold. I saw the Shadow Stepper running at me, but multiple lines of something that had erupted from the ground stopped him.

"There's no need"

The human stated as a flash of light went through the area. It didn't blind me, so I increased the pressure as I felt the two entities merge.

_I wasn't expecting this, but now all I need to do now is finished what I started_

I thought tensely as the light died down and I could see what had happened. There in front of me was an orb of light that that was orange and color that had an aura that was pulsing a weak yellow and red color.

"What have you done!?"

The creature shireked as I put my hand out to the orb. I could feel the magic energy that was compressed into this orb, which meant my plan was going to be successful. I needed this amount of energy for my plan and I now had only moments left to execute it.

"Sacrifices need to be made"

I growled to myself as the orb dropped into my hand where I held it for a moment before I made my hand into a fist, which shattered the sphere. The moment it broke, my mouth started to form words that shocked me.

"Experimental soul-pairing sequence intiated"

I said as my gaze dropped to the ground as a feeling of dread washed over me. A loud rattling sound filled the area that caused the ground me to shake violently as the pain spiked, which caused me to grit my teeth.

"Magic bridges connected: power coupler activated!"

I yelled suddenly as my head snapped up and I launched into a run where every one of my steps created a small explosion near my feet that sent smoke, embers, dust and ash into the air that blinded me, but I continued forward, not able to see my target, but sense it. Every step I took resounded in my body, which numbed the pain as I raced through the hazy air. As I ran, my vision became a sequence of memories with the time I spent in existance. From the moment I was given life, I knew that my purpose was to serve and protect my creator.

_I vowed that as my first words_

I reminded myself as my right arm drew backwards and my claws started to heat up for some reason.

_I will remain loyal to him_

I affirmed to myself as my arm thrust itself forwards and my claws impacted something cold and as soon as it did, a voice cried out.

"No; what are you doing!?"

The voice cried out as my arms started to tear away whatever these small and cold metallic items were. They broke apart easily and a stinging sensation that was similar to when Cryptis did tests on me that involved syringes coursed over my body. The sentimental thought flashed away as I tore the final layer of whatever these were away and I met the scared face of my enemy as I drew my arm back for what I knew was my final time.

"My master belongs to me, not you!"

I declared as I rammed my fist into his chest, which caved inwards and the momentum that carried me along caused me to stumble a short distance forward. I was able to keep my balance, but I fell to my knees as something landed roughly in front of me. The individual yelped and started into a coughing fit that brought relief to me.

"Thank you"

The individual said as my vision cleared. I didn't need to know who it was because I had been fighting for him this entire time.

"Go help the others"

I commanded him as I picked him up from the middle of his body and swung him two times around my body and let go. I saw his smiling face as I let go of him.

"You were a great and faithful bodyguard; given the chance, I will rebuild you"

He said as I surrendered to the power that was pressing against me,. The thought of his statement was the last thing I thought before an explosion resounded in my ears and in the same moment, I saw or felt nothing. My fate was sealed and I accepted it gladly, knowing that my purpose was fulfilled.

Chapter 3

Complications

Ruin's P.O.V.

His presence was near me and the energy that rested in me was itching for battle. The area that I had arrived at still had the tension of battle and my limiters were becoming weak.

_If I don't find Cryptis soon, I will perish!_

I reminded myself as my right arm lifted itself without me telling to and my hand went to one of the beads that ringed my neck. The one that my hand went felt sharp edges that signified that my limiter was close to failing. The cold material was some comfort, but I quickly brushed the sentiment away and let my mind return to what I was made for: protecting Cryptis at all costs. I casually pushed a tree to the side and I took in the sight of the area. Three individuals of the yoshi species were on the ground, accompanied by one individual of the chameleon species that was struggling to stay alive, one human and….him. Sparked by the influence of the Devil Gene and with the lust for battle that I was incapable of controlling drove me forward.

"So, that makes six"

The human said wistfully as the creature that I was created to destroy brought its right arm back and opened it, exposing wickedly sharp claws that glowed different colors. Without warning, a wave of anger, greed and unknown motivation coursed over me and I started to walk forward. My body started to twitch uncontrollably as I walked, moving by the will of my emotions and not my brain telling it to.

"You have some nerve to show up here, Raze Under Initiative Null unit!"

A voice called out to me, which stopped me cold and dead in my tracks. Wave after wave of cold and hot coursed up and down my body as the individuals who were standing turned to look at me. I could easily identify all of them: Shadow Stepper, Rojo, Emperor, ThunderHead, Lemon, Abyss, and…. Her. the Devil Gene reacted to the influences in the area and manifested itself by my body twitching.

_I'm not going to be able to control myself at this point!_

I thought tensely as something started to glow brilliantly, which was accompanied by a wave of magic energy that flooded the area. I was unsure of why this was happening and I knew that this wasn't going to go well. I knew that Cryptis was here, and at that moment, I lost control of my body. My consciousness was kicked to the corner of my mind and the Devil Gene took over, which meant that I had very little, if control over what happened next.

"Where…..is….he!?"

I seethed, shaking visibly as the light died down and my vision returned, which prompted me to take my fighting stance as I felt the familiar stinging sensation that coursed over my body, which meant that I was calibrating for battle. This included thickening my blood and increasing my muscle mass slightly and diverting blood to needed areas of my body and cutting circulation off to others that I didn't need. My question caused the human and the Shadow Stepper to chuckle.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

The Shadow Stepper declared as I finally noticed what had changed. Lemon and ThunderHead were missing and Rojo had changed to another form. With this minor confusion, I stiffened slightly and gave some of my attention to my surroundings.

"So, this is what you call allies?"

The Shadow Stepper asked as the lines that were wrapped around its hands started to uncoil and slither along the ground, which startled me somewhat, but I didn't let any of that concern me.

"I call them puppets; bags of flesh to do my bidding!"

The creature continued as I finally understood the gravity of the situation I had placed myself in: the Shadow Stepper had somehow unbound itself from the Abyssal Void and was now capable of moving between the two worlds _at will_.

_Wait! That means_

I thought tesnely as the creature continued while the wires climbed up the individuals of my species that were near it.

"You see, being the creator of something gives you full rights to treat what you've created however you want"

It continued with a smug look on its face as I watched the wires coil themselves around the necks of my acquaintances. I couldn't understand how I wasn't fighting at this point, but I could only narrow the possibilities down to having the minute control that I hypothesized that I had. The mist was darkening and I felt my neck starting to heat up.

_If I don't start releasing this energy soon_

I started to think, but I felt the air displaced and I felt a shockwave of energy pulse through me and with the speed that I possessed, I parried three attacks and resetted into my stance, where I found myself in the middle of a circle of individuals that was created by Rojo, something that looked like the combination of Lemon and ThunderHead and her. Off in the distance, I could see the Shadow Stepper and the human watching me, but there was another presence that I could feel, but couldn't pinpoint for some reason.

"Why will you not fight me yourself!?"

I growled loudly, which caused the ring of individuals around me to flinch. At that moment, a very faint voice resounded in my mind. I looked around wildly, and the ring of individuals around me started their assault. Rojo threw a punch that I directed into the combination of Lemon and ThunderHead. His punch impacted her axe-kick that sent the area into smoke, ash and embers. I used this to break away from the group and reset, but something drove an elbow into my chest and I slid backwards from the force that I was hit with.

"I surely haven't seen this before!"

The voice marveled as I strained to see through the billowing smoke that clouded my vision. I knew this voice and I didn't like it!

"It seems that you have something that doesn't belong to you"

The same voice said, changing to a tone that was somewhere between anger and a taunting fashion. Confused my this, my stance faltered and something sent me forwards and for the first time in a long time, I felt pain. I staggered forward a couple of steps and took my stance again shakily.

"This doesn't belong to you specifically"

I stated evenly, shifting my left eye to see behind me while my other eye focused on this individual. At this point, the frustration of being hit and feeling pain was starting to become overwhelming.

_Ruin_

The voice called again in my mind, which caused me to look around again. As soon as I took my eye of the individual, something impacted the side of my head, which sent me spinning off into the left, which meant that the attack had come from the right. I growled to myself as I hit the ground and quickly returned to my stance again, but this time, the individuals that had made the ring around me were laughing at something.

"Come on Ruin, you're not this bad at fighting!"

Rojo taunted me as I shook my head to clear some of the nausea that I was starting to experience. The combination of Thunderhead and Lemon also started to chuckle and at that moment, the nausea I was trying to control washed over me and I dropped to my knees while pain started to course over me. I had no idea what was happening, as I had never experienced this event before. As soon as I dropped to my knees, something grabbed me by my neck and I was yanked into the air. The grip was strong and it started to cut off my ability to breathe. I tried to move my limbs but nothing was responding for some reason!

"This is the height of Cryptis's creations and technology!?"

One of the voices taunted me as I tried to rationalize what was going on. Based on what was happening, there was only two logical remedies to this situation and none of them were optimal. One was succumbing to my enemy and letting my creator down and the other…..

_It's the only logical end, but it will cost my life_

I thought tensely with a minute trace of depression as something impaled my body. I didn't feel the pain oddly, but the moment the individual ripped its fist out of my chest, anger exploded through my body.

"Get off me!"

I yelled suddenly, kicking the individual who had impaled me so hard, the air displaced around me and I fell to the ground shaking slightly. I laid there for a moment, putting my hand to my chest to feel the blood that rarely manifested itself. The anger liked it and involuntarily, my hand went to my mouth and I licked the blood off of one of my fingers and got up, laughing quietly as I did.

_That's it;I've lost my mind!_

I exclaimed mentally with the uncontrollable giddiness that the Devil Gene influenced me with. I blinked a couple of times and rubbed the foreign substances from my eyes and the laser focus vision Cryptis gave me set itself into my eyes.

_Rojo, SuperCell, Caliente,the Shadow Stepper and Serpiente _

The voice said to me.

_Initiate command: Kill All_

The voice continued as my right hand went up to my neck.

_No, Stop!_

I cried mentally, but it was no use, my index claw twitched, which severed the string that held my limiter in place. As soon as the string was severed, a blue-black aura manifested itself as orange mist started to rise from my scales. For a moment, the cold black sphere I held brought some comfort before I clenched my hand into a fist, which shattered the orb. A shockwave of air went through the area, sending my opponents back a short distance as I felt the last of my natural self give into the power that rested in me.

"Command Received: proceeding to kill all organic life forms in the area!"

I shouted as I learned forwards while my arms went limp. My jaw tightened to much, some of my teeth shattered as my right hand started to glow a purple-black color.

"My name is the Raze Under Initiative Unit, the strongest creation of Cryptis; my purpose is to destroy anything that threatens the existence of my creator!"

I announced as I felt my heartbeat stop, which meant that this was my last fight. I slowly returned to my standing position with thunder resounding in the distance. The others looked up and as they did, a bolt of lighting flashed, blinding everyone for a moment, but I knew this lightning bolt was for me; it ended my transformation and jump started the changes needed for this form to function. When the light died down, I saw the others running at me as fast as they could, except for the human and the Shadow Stepper. I half smiled to myself and I took my stance for a moment before the others slid to a stop and all of us punched at the same time, our fists met, which sent the area into smoke, dust, fire, ashes, and into the crackling of electricity. There was no time for my mind to react, but it wasn't me who was fighting. A flash of yellow color that started a bicycle kick prompted me to duck. I lunged forward, narrowly missing a chop that was aimed for my neck. I backhanded Rojo, which sent the elbow that was meant for me into Caliente's face. Unphased, she resetted and while I was focused on that, a kick was driven into my left side which didn't move or hurt me. I leaned back, narrowly missing a projectile that was silver in color.

"This isn't your fight!"

I growled at the human, who shrugged.

"I can't have any fun?"

He asked with a shrug and as i was about to respond, a punch was driven into my back, knocking me forward a couple of steps from the force I was hit with. I felt something running down the left side of my mouth and involuntarily, I put my left hand up to feel what it was.

_More blood!_

The voice commanded me, which prompted me to turn and face my assailants once again, but this time, more anger coursed through me. I ducked a spinning jump kick and waited for the individual to land before driving a hate-filled punch into their face, which sent the individual reeling. The muscles in my legs tensed, and before I knew it, I was in the air about to terminate my target. Before I could comprehend that I wasn't moving, I was yanked backwards and slammed into the ground. I was stunned only for a moment, but that was the amount of time needed for me to the grabbed and thrown. I flew through the air for a moment before I impacted something that grunted on impact. Anger prompted me to get up, but I wasn't quick enough this time, as something landed to my left, which showered me with dust and dirt. The next moment, I was grabbed by my leg and was raised and slammed into the ground two times, once to the left and right of where I was laying. The second time I impacted the ground, I was stunned, and this gave my assailant time to start landing punches as I was pinned to the ground. After the third punch landed, my libs were able to move and I raised my arms quickly and crossed my arms together at my wrists and balled my hands into fists to block the punches I was receiving. The air displaced around us and I heard a grunt of pain that was followed by a large amount of pressure that compressed my chest inwards. I felt no pain, but the action was repeated three more times before I was able to roll away and reset into my fighting stance,but by the time I did, a flash of red color was seen from the corner of my left eye and instinctively, I reverse axe-kicked where the color was and my heel landed a clean hit. The individual hit the ground hard and groaned softly. I took a moment to smirk, which result in me being grabbed by my shoulders and turned abruptly to face another red blur that leaned back and headbutted me. Why this individual decieded to attack me like this confused me, and the time I took to be confused was enough for me to have the individual reset for another of the same attack. I smirked to myself and just as the individual brought their head forward, I spun around the back of the individual and took their head and brought it into another of my assailants fists. When the individual cried out, which cased ThunderHead to be confused for a moment, I vaulted over the individual I was holding and launched Caliente with a hate driven snap kick.

"Dodge this!"

A voice called out in a taunting fashion, which prompted me to turn quickly. The air started to crackle, which meant that my opponent was using an electrical based attack, which I instinctively used to set into a counter stance that would allow me to send their attack right back at them. The moment I got into the stance, I felt the impact of a large spherical object that pushed me back a short distance from the inertia this object wasn't enough to phase me, as I smirked, spun around two times and threw the large electrically charged sphere right back at ThunderHead, who had just brought her head up to smirk at me, believing that her attack had landed, but as soon as she realized I had countered her attack, it was too late and she started to say something, but the sphere impacted her and the area was once again thrown into a cloud of dust, dirt and ash.

"I don't dodge"

I growled and right after I finished my statement, I felt something brush my left shoulder. I whipped around to see what it was, but since the area was obscured with smoke, I thought I was hallucinating when I saw a long and thin line that resembled as tail floating into the thicker part of the smoke. The moment I tried to figure out what this was, something landed next to me, displacing some of the smoke. I didn't have time to react, but I somehow parried a punch and three roundhouse kicks, barely missing a jet kick from ThunderHead again. I stumbled a couple of steps backwards, almost losing my balance, which caused me to receive three punches from Caliente, a roundhouse kick from Rojo and a sweep from something I couldn't see. I started to fall backwards and my arm reached out without me telling it to and the moment my fingers brushed against something, my hand clamped down on whatever it was and I was launched from something that drove a kick into my right set of ribs, which sent me and what ever I was holding onto into a high paced barrel roll. By the time I stopped, I felt nauseous, but I was still able to move my limbs slightly. I tried to move, but by the time my limbs weren't numb anymore, my head was driven into the ground and laughter started to resound in my ears. It was slightly muffled and distorted, but it was laughter. It angered me, and before I could comprehend it, I was up, narrowly missing a large boulder that would've crushed me. Rojo was barrelling towards me, so I coiled the muscles in my legs and launched into the air to meet him. I could see the blankness in his eyes, which angered me. I blocked his punch and using his lost momentum, I swung him around me and I watched him slam into the ground. The air displaced around him and just as I started to fall, something impacted my back and my back bowed in from the force that I was hit with and before I knew it, I slammed intoRojo facefirst and something landed on top of me, which forced the air from my lungs, which caused Rojo and I to start coughing. Before I could catch my breath, I heard a cracking sound that was followed by pain, which a moment later I found to be someone repeatedly stomping on me with considerable force.

_ENOUGH!_

I screamed mentally, flying to my feet and grabbing whoever was stomping on me. I raised the individual into the air, and slammed them into Rojo, who was now motionless. The anger the drove me extended my arm in a flash and grabbed the yellow individual's leg and swung them around me twice to gain momentum and managed to hit Caliente and then Rojo as he struggled to get to his feet. She flew away from me and Rojo went sprawling to my left, groaning as he rolled. Since SuperCell was still falling, I grabbed her face with my right arm, punched her midsection three times, threw her into the air again, threw an inside and outside crescent kick that ended with me backhanding her midsection again which sent her spinning away from me. With the speed I knew wasn't mine, I sprinted over to where my victim had fallen and slammed my foot down on her chest, which caused her to cough weakly.

"Where should I start tearing you apart from!?"

I seethed as my mouth formed into a demonic smile. Her eyes fluttered weakly and just as I brought my foot up to complete the command I was given, a rad blur appeared at the corner of my right eye and I performed a roundhouse kick that sent Caliente spinning away from me. She rolled a short distance, but was somehow able to maneuver herself so that when the momentum that carried her along stopped, she fell into a kneeling position. She was breathing heavily and something was glowing slightly on her upper right arm.

"Come on now, go ahead and avenge your master"

Heavy breathing resounded all around as I struggled to move. Because I couldn't move, Ilet the pain overcome my senses and all of my limbs went numb, but as I let myself go, a voice that was loud and clear resound in my head.

_Raze Under Initiative Null Unit power cap removed: activate Cold Blooded Killer Drive!_

The voice stated tensely and then I finally understood who was speaking to me and why. Cryptis had been absorbed by someone that possessed the Cosmic Claw Fragment!

_That also means that his consciousness has been transferred into the claw fragment, leaving the husk of his body in reality!_

I thought tensely as I continued to try to get feeling back to my limbs. It was also then I realized what had happened and why.

"The Raze Under initiative Null Unit; supposedly the strongest creation that the United Chameleon Island Chain created still falls to an inferior species?"

The human's voice asked as the numbness started to go away. I didn't want to make any movements until I felt that the opportune moment came, which I didn't know if it would.

"I really thought your show of power would amaze me"

The voice continued as I was picked up by the back of my head. I groaned from the force that I was grabbed with and the speed that I was picked up by. Thankfully, my vision wasn't distorted and I met the human's sneering face. The odd article hid everything but his mouth, which showed a smile that sent a shiver down my spine.

"Supposedly, this form that you've taken allows your bones and muscle to be one hundred times stronger and your reaction time and dexterity to be twice that; so either you're not trying or you can't use this power; which one is it!?"

He asked angrily, shaking me slightly as my opponents lined up next to him on the left side of where he was standing. Without warning, he increased the grip of his hand and I clenched my teeth together from the pain as he flipped something into the air and caught it artistically with the hand he wasn't holding and held the blade to my throat. The cold metal caused me to shiver and my eyes moved themselves to look at Caliente. The human raised me up a short distance and turned around to hold me in front of her.

"Go ahead my servent, take the power that this individual possesses and do what you were created to"

He said ominously, but right after he finished this statement, power flew through me and I suddenly found myself a short distance from him and the others, holding Caliente by her neck with my right hand and with my left hand with all of my claws at her throat.

"Go ahead, see what it gets you"

She seethed, and a moment later, without me telling my body to, my left hand went through her neck and out the back of it, sending a gurgling sound through the area and a shower of blood onto my hand. The human twitched and others stood perfectly still as thin lines of black and red color started to come from her body and up to my upper right arm. As her body started to wither I started to laugh uncontrollably as I started to shake. The pain and numbness instantly vanished as something started to appear on my left arm and glow.

"Kill him, now!"

The creature next to the human commended SuperCell and Rojo tensely. They nodded slightly and they both launched at me. I smiled to myself and as they slid to a stop in front of me, with SuperCell throwing an inside crescent kick and Rojo throwing a punch, both of which I stopped with my right hand by directing her punch into Rojo's fist. Since I felt the elemental and magic energy as they were racing towards me, I decided that was my best option, but it wasn't me that was fighting and I constantly had to remind myself of this. They both staggered backwards and resetted, while I stood and crossed my arms in front of me in a taunting matter. Rojo was the first to react, throwing another punch that engulfed his fist in flame, which caught with my left hand, which was larger than his fist. He brought his head up to look at me and I saw his horrified expression that caused me to smile. I closed that hand into a fistt and heard multiple cracking sounds that caused him to cry out in pain as he tried to take his fist from my hand. With his other hand, he was able to strike the left side of my face. I felt the impact and my head moved to the left slightly. I growled deeply and used my left hand, made it into a fist and delivered an uppercut that snapped his head back that hit with to much force, he flew into the air, but before he was out of my reach, I grabbed him by his neck and slammed him back into the ground and roundhouse kicked him into SuperCell, who was looking at me with a dumbfounded expression. When Rojo slammed into SuperCell a loud cracking sound went through the area and they tumbled a short distance and when they stopped, were motionless. I thought I was going to walk over to them, but once again, this wasn't me, so before I knew it, I had picked up Rojo and put him on top of SuperCell, as they were both unconscious. I then brought my foot up and slammed down on his chest, which caved in slightly.

"There is no reason any of you should be spared!"

I yelled with hatred as I brought my head up to see the creature standing a few feet away from me. Since it was twilight, I could see some of its features with the most prominent the extensions that went from being its eyes and went up the sides of its face. It was sneering as if everything that had happened here was meaningless to it. That angered me and I increased the pressure of my foot somewhat and the individuals under my feet started to wheeze.

"If you kill them, you'll only be helping me"

It said with indifference as it shrugged and at that moment, a wave of pain coursed over me which caused me to lose my balance and stumble back a couple of steps. My arms went the sides of my head as all of my muscles started to tense.

_This is it; this is all the time you have left!_

The voice called to me as something loud and rhythmic started to resound in my head. I dropped my arms back to their sides and when my vision cleared, my opponents, SuperCell and Rojo were standing in front of me, holding their right clawed hands in front of their chests. Their middle claws were glowing so brightly, I had to look away.

"Claw Fragment Limit Modulators Activated"

They started in unison as the pain started to intensify. I balled my hands into fists and looked up into the multicolored sky. I knew that I had little time to finish what I was created to do, so I took a deep breath as I felt lines of heat crawl over my body. A flickering light manifested in the corner of my right eye as they started to speak again in unison.

"Infinite power ceiling released!"

They continued in unison and right after they finished their statement, the light became blidning, and I became lost in a sea of pain and yelling that increased in volume. A strong wind nearly knocked me over, but I was barely able to keep my balance as I shielded myself with my crossed arms as the light died down. The pain didn't, which kept me in reality. I rubbed my eyes and returned to my stance, knowing the next two actions I was going to take and since I was reaching the limit of my body's capability, I deeded to finish this on my first try. The two lights that dominated my vision were yellow and red in color that pulsed slightly.

"It makes no difference now"

I growled to myself as I felt the air displace, which prompted me to take a counter stance. Because I couldn't make anything distinguishable from my sight, I relied on the instinct my creator gave me. As soon as something impacted my chest, my right arm flashed upwards and grabbed something. The other arm followed and my vision cleared enough to see that I was holding them by their faces. I smiled to myself and slammed Rojo and SuperCell together so hard, something odd happened.

"No you fool; what are you doing!?"

The Shadow Stepper shrieked as they struggled weakly against my hold. I saw the Shadow Stepper running at me, but multiple lines of something that had erupted from the ground stopped him.

"There's no need"

The human stated as a flash of light went through the area. It didn't blind me, so I increased the pressure as I felt the two entities merge.

_I wasn't expecting this, but now all I need to do now is finished what I started_

I thought tensely as the light died down and I could see what had happened. There in front of me was an orb of light that that was orange and color that had an aura that was pulsing a weak yellow and red color.

"What have you done!?"

The creature shireked as I put my hand out to the orb. I could feel the magic energy that was compressed into this orb, which meant my plan was going to be successful. I needed this amount of energy for my plan and I now had only moments left to execute it.

"Sacrifices need to be made"

I growled to myself as the orb dropped into my hand where I held it for a moment before I made my hand into a fist, which shattered the sphere. The moment it broke, my mouth started to form words that shocked me.

"Experimental soul-pairing sequence intiated"

I said as my gaze dropped to the ground as a feeling of dread washed over me. A loud rattling sound filled the area that caused the ground me to shake violently as the pain spiked, which caused me to grit my teeth.

"Magic bridges connected: power coupler activated!"

I yelled suddenly as my head snapped up and I launched into a run where every one of my steps created a small explosion near my feet that sent smoke, embers, dust and ash into the air that blinded me, but I continued forward, not able to see my target, but sense it. Every step I took resounded in my body, which numbed the pain as I raced through the hazy air. As I ran, my vision became a sequence of memories with the time I spent in existance. From the moment I was given life, I knew that my purpose was to serve and protect my creator.

_I vowed that as my first words_

I reminded myself as my right arm drew backwards and my claws started to heat up for some reason.

_I will remain loyal to him_

I affirmed to myself as my arm thrust itself forwards and my claws impacted something cold and as soon as it did, a voice cried out.

"No; what are you doing!?"

The voice cried out as my arms started to tear away whatever these small and cold metallic items were. They broke apart easily and a stinging sensation that was similar to when Cryptis did tests on me that involved syringes coursed over my body. The sentimental thought flashed away as I tore the final layer of whatever these were away and I met the scared face of my enemy as I drew my arm back for what I knew was my final time.

"My master belongs to me, not you!"

I declared as I rammed my fist into his chest, which caved inwards and the momentum that carried me along caused me to stumble a short distance forward. I was able to keep my balance, but I fell to my knees as something landed roughly in front of me. The individual yelped and started into a coughing fit that brought relief to me.

"Thank you"

The individual said as my vision cleared. I didn't need to know who it was because I had been fighting for him this entire time.

"Go help the others"

I commanded him as I picked him up from the middle of his body and swung him two times around my body and let go. I saw his smiling face as I let go of him.

"You were a great and faithful bodyguard; given the chance, I will rebuild you"

He said as I surrendered to the power that was pressing against me,. The thought of his statement was the last thing I thought before an explosion resounded in my ears and in the same moment, I saw or felt nothing. My fate was sealed and I accepted it gladly, knowing that my purpose was fulfilled.

Chapter 3

Complications

Ruin's P.O.V.

His presence was near me and the energy that rested in me was itching for battle. The area that I had arrived at still had the tension of battle and my limiters were becoming weak.

_If I don't find Cryptis soon, I will perish!_

I reminded myself as my right arm lifted itself without me telling to and my hand went to one of the beads that ringed my neck. The one that my hand went felt sharp edges that signified that my limiter was close to failing. The cold material was some comfort, but I quickly brushed the sentiment away and let my mind return to what I was made for: protecting Cryptis at all costs. I casually pushed a tree to the side and I took in the sight of the area. Three individuals of the yoshi species were on the ground, accompanied by one individual of the chameleon species that was struggling to stay alive, one human and….him. Sparked by the influence of the Devil Gene and with the lust for battle that I was incapable of controlling drove me forward.

"So, that makes six"

The human said wistfully as the creature that I was created to destroy brought its right arm back and opened it, exposing wickedly sharp claws that glowed different colors. Without warning, a wave of anger, greed and unknown motivation coursed over me and I started to walk forward. My body started to twitch uncontrollably as I walked, moving by the will of my emotions and not my brain telling it to.

"You have some nerve to show up here, Raze Under Initiative Null unit!"

A voice called out to me, which stopped me cold and dead in my tracks. Wave after wave of cold and hot coursed up and down my body as the individuals who were standing turned to look at me. I could easily identify all of them: Shadow Stepper, Rojo, Emperor, ThunderHead, Lemon, Abyss, and…. Her. the Devil Gene reacted to the influences in the area and manifested itself by my body twitching.

_I'm not going to be able to control myself at this point!_

I thought tensely as something started to glow brilliantly, which was accompanied by a wave of magic energy that flooded the area. I was unsure of why this was happening and I knew that this wasn't going to go well. I knew that Cryptis was here, and at that moment, I lost control of my body. My consciousness was kicked to the corner of my mind and the Devil Gene took over, which meant that I had very little, if control over what happened next.

"Where…..is….he!?"

I seethed, shaking visibly as the light died down and my vision returned, which prompted me to take my fighting stance as I felt the familiar stinging sensation that coursed over my body, which meant that I was calibrating for battle. This included thickening my blood and increasing my muscle mass slightly and diverting blood to needed areas of my body and cutting circulation off to others that I didn't need. My question caused the human and the Shadow Stepper to chuckle.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

The Shadow Stepper declared as I finally noticed what had changed. Lemon and ThunderHead were missing and Rojo had changed to another form. With this minor confusion, I stiffened slightly and gave some of my attention to my surroundings.

"So, this is what you call allies?"

The Shadow Stepper asked as the lines that were wrapped around its hands started to uncoil and slither along the ground, which startled me somewhat, but I didn't let any of that concern me.

"I call them puppets; bags of flesh to do my bidding!"

The creature continued as I finally understood the gravity of the situation I had placed myself in: the Shadow Stepper had somehow unbound itself from the Abyssal Void and was now capable of moving between the two worlds _at will_.

_Wait! That means_

I thought tesnely as the creature continued while the wires climbed up the individuals of my species that were near it.

"You see, being the creator of something gives you full rights to treat what you've created however you want"

It continued with a smug look on its face as I watched the wires coil themselves around the necks of my acquaintances. I couldn't understand how I wasn't fighting at this point, but I could only narrow the possibilities down to having the minute control that I hypothesized that I had. The mist was darkening and I felt my neck starting to heat up.

_If I don't start releasing this energy soon_

I started to think, but I felt the air displaced and I felt a shockwave of energy pulse through me and with the speed that I possessed, I parried three attacks and resetted into my stance, where I found myself in the middle of a circle of individuals that was created by Rojo, something that looked like the combination of Lemon and ThunderHead and her. Off in the distance, I could see the Shadow Stepper and the human watching me, but there was another presence that I could feel, but couldn't pinpoint for some reason.

"Why will you not fight me yourself!?"

I growled loudly, which caused the ring of individuals around me to flinch. At that moment, a very faint voice resounded in my mind. I looked around wildly, and the ring of individuals around me started their assault. Rojo threw a punch that I directed into the combination of Lemon and ThunderHead. His punch impacted her axe-kick that sent the area into smoke, ash and embers. I used this to break away from the group and reset, but something drove an elbow into my chest and I slid backwards from the force that I was hit with.

"I surely haven't seen this before!"

The voice marveled as I strained to see through the billowing smoke that clouded my vision. I knew this voice and I didn't like it!

"It seems that you have something that doesn't belong to you"

The same voice said, changing to a tone that was somewhere between anger and a taunting fashion. Confused my this, my stance faltered and something sent me forwards and for the first time in a long time, I felt pain. I staggered forward a couple of steps and took my stance again shakily.

"This doesn't belong to you specifically"

I stated evenly, shifting my left eye to see behind me while my other eye focused on this individual. At this point, the frustration of being hit and feeling pain was starting to become overwhelming.

_Ruin_

The voice called again in my mind, which caused me to look around again. As soon as I took my eye of the individual, something impacted the side of my head, which sent me spinning off into the left, which meant that the attack had come from the right. I growled to myself as I hit the ground and quickly returned to my stance again, but this time, the individuals that had made the ring around me were laughing at something.

"Come on Ruin, you're not this bad at fighting!"

Rojo taunted me as I shook my head to clear some of the nausea that I was starting to experience. The combination of Thunderhead and Lemon also started to chuckle and at that moment, the nausea I was trying to control washed over me and I dropped to my knees while pain started to course over me. I had no idea what was happening, as I had never experienced this event before. As soon as I dropped to my knees, something grabbed me by my neck and I was yanked into the air. The grip was strong and it started to cut off my ability to breathe. I tried to move my limbs but nothing was responding for some reason!

"This is the height of Cryptis's creations and technology!?"

One of the voices taunted me as I tried to rationalize what was going on. Based on what was happening, there was only two logical remedies to this situation and none of them were optimal. One was succumbing to my enemy and letting my creator down and the other…..

_It's the only logical end, but it will cost my life_

I thought tensely with a minute trace of depression as something impaled my body. I didn't feel the pain oddly, but the moment the individual ripped its fist out of my chest, anger exploded through my body.

"Get off me!"

I yelled suddenly, kicking the individual who had impaled me so hard, the air displaced around me and I fell to the ground shaking slightly. I laid there for a moment, putting my hand to my chest to feel the blood that rarely manifested itself. The anger liked it and involuntarily, my hand went to my mouth and I licked the blood off of one of my fingers and got up, laughing quietly as I did.

_That's it;I've lost my mind!_

I exclaimed mentally with the uncontrollable giddiness that the Devil Gene influenced me with. I blinked a couple of times and rubbed the foreign substances from my eyes and the laser focus vision Cryptis gave me set itself into my eyes.

_Rojo, SuperCell, Caliente,the Shadow Stepper and Serpiente _

The voice said to me.

_Initiate command: Kill All_

The voice continued as my right hand went up to my neck.

_No, Stop!_

I cried mentally, but it was no use, my index claw twitched, which severed the string that held my limiter in place. As soon as the string was severed, a blue-black aura manifested itself as orange mist started to rise from my scales. For a moment, the cold black sphere I held brought some comfort before I clenched my hand into a fist, which shattered the orb. A shockwave of air went through the area, sending my opponents back a short distance as I felt the last of my natural self give into the power that rested in me.

"Command Received: proceeding to kill all organic life forms in the area!"

I shouted as I learned forwards while my arms went limp. My jaw tightened to much, some of my teeth shattered as my right hand started to glow a purple-black color.

"My name is the Raze Under Initiative Unit, the strongest creation of Cryptis; my purpose is to destroy anything that threatens the existence of my creator!"

I announced as I felt my heartbeat stop, which meant that this was my last fight. I slowly returned to my standing position with thunder resounding in the distance. The others looked up and as they did, a bolt of lighting flashed, blinding everyone for a moment, but I knew this lightning bolt was for me; it ended my transformation and jump started the changes needed for this form to function. When the light died down, I saw the others running at me as fast as they could, except for the human and the Shadow Stepper. I half smiled to myself and I took my stance for a moment before the others slid to a stop and all of us punched at the same time, our fists met, which sent the area into smoke, dust, fire, ashes, and into the crackling of electricity. There was no time for my mind to react, but it wasn't me who was fighting. A flash of yellow color that started a bicycle kick prompted me to duck. I lunged forward, narrowly missing a chop that was aimed for my neck. I backhanded Rojo, which sent the elbow that was meant for me into Caliente's face. Unphased, she resetted and while I was focused on that, a kick was driven into my left side which didn't move or hurt me. I leaned back, narrowly missing a projectile that was silver in color.

"This isn't your fight!"

I growled at the human, who shrugged.

"I can't have any fun?"

He asked with a shrug and as i was about to respond, a punch was driven into my back, knocking me forward a couple of steps from the force I was hit with. I felt something running down the left side of my mouth and involuntarily, I put my left hand up to feel what it was.

_More blood!_

The voice commanded me, which prompted me to turn and face my assailants once again, but this time, more anger coursed through me. I ducked a spinning jump kick and waited for the individual to land before driving a hate-filled punch into their face, which sent the individual reeling. The muscles in my legs tensed, and before I knew it, I was in the air about to terminate my target. Before I could comprehend that I wasn't moving, I was yanked backwards and slammed into the ground. I was stunned only for a moment, but that was the amount of time needed for me to the grabbed and thrown. I flew through the air for a moment before I impacted something that grunted on impact. Anger prompted me to get up, but I wasn't quick enough this time, as something landed to my left, which showered me with dust and dirt. The next moment, I was grabbed by my leg and was raised and slammed into the ground two times, once to the left and right of where I was laying. The second time I impacted the ground, I was stunned, and this gave my assailant time to start landing punches as I was pinned to the ground. After the third punch landed, my libs were able to move and I raised my arms quickly and crossed my arms together at my wrists and balled my hands into fists to block the punches I was receiving. The air displaced around us and I heard a grunt of pain that was followed by a large amount of pressure that compressed my chest inwards. I felt no pain, but the action was repeated three more times before I was able to roll away and reset into my fighting stance,but by the time I did, a flash of red color was seen from the corner of my left eye and instinctively, I reverse axe-kicked where the color was and my heel landed a clean hit. The individual hit the ground hard and groaned softly. I took a moment to smirk, which result in me being grabbed by my shoulders and turned abruptly to face another red blur that leaned back and headbutted me. Why this individual decieded to attack me like this confused me, and the time I took to be confused was enough for me to have the individual reset for another of the same attack. I smirked to myself and just as the individual brought their head forward, I spun around the back of the individual and took their head and brought it into another of my assailants fists. When the individual cried out, which cased ThunderHead to be confused for a moment, I vaulted over the individual I was holding and launched Caliente with a hate driven snap kick.

"Dodge this!"

A voice called out in a taunting fashion, which prompted me to turn quickly. The air started to crackle, which meant that my opponent was using an electrical based attack, which I instinctively used to set into a counter stance that would allow me to send their attack right back at them. The moment I got into the stance, I felt the impact of a large spherical object that pushed me back a short distance from the inertia this object wasn't enough to phase me, as I smirked, spun around two times and threw the large electrically charged sphere right back at ThunderHead, who had just brought her head up to smirk at me, believing that her attack had landed, but as soon as she realized I had countered her attack, it was too late and she started to say something, but the sphere impacted her and the area was once again thrown into a cloud of dust, dirt and ash.

"I don't dodge"

I growled and right after I finished my statement, I felt something brush my left shoulder. I whipped around to see what it was, but since the area was obscured with smoke, I thought I was hallucinating when I saw a long and thin line that resembled as tail floating into the thicker part of the smoke. The moment I tried to figure out what this was, something landed next to me, displacing some of the smoke. I didn't have time to react, but I somehow parried a punch and three roundhouse kicks, barely missing a jet kick from ThunderHead again. I stumbled a couple of steps backwards, almost losing my balance, which caused me to receive three punches from Caliente, a roundhouse kick from Rojo and a sweep from something I couldn't see. I started to fall backwards and my arm reached out without me telling it to and the moment my fingers brushed against something, my hand clamped down on whatever it was and I was launched from something that drove a kick into my right set of ribs, which sent me and what ever I was holding onto into a high paced barrel roll. By the time I stopped, I felt nauseous, but I was still able to move my limbs slightly. I tried to move, but by the time my limbs weren't numb anymore, my head was driven into the ground and laughter started to resound in my ears. It was slightly muffled and distorted, but it was laughter. It angered me, and before I could comprehend it, I was up, narrowly missing a large boulder that would've crushed me. Rojo was barrelling towards me, so I coiled the muscles in my legs and launched into the air to meet him. I could see the blankness in his eyes, which angered me. I blocked his punch and using his lost momentum, I swung him around me and I watched him slam into the ground. The air displaced around him and just as I started to fall, something impacted my back and my back bowed in from the force that I was hit with and before I knew it, I slammed intoRojo facefirst and something landed on top of me, which forced the air from my lungs, which caused Rojo and I to start coughing. Before I could catch my breath, I heard a cracking sound that was followed by pain, which a moment later I found to be someone repeatedly stomping on me with considerable force.

_ENOUGH!_

I screamed mentally, flying to my feet and grabbing whoever was stomping on me. I raised the individual into the air, and slammed them into Rojo, who was now motionless. The anger the drove me extended my arm in a flash and grabbed the yellow individual's leg and swung them around me twice to gain momentum and managed to hit Caliente and then Rojo as he struggled to get to his feet. She flew away from me and Rojo went sprawling to my left, groaning as he rolled. Since SuperCell was still falling, I grabbed her face with my right arm, punched her midsection three times, threw her into the air again, threw an inside and outside crescent kick that ended with me backhanding her midsection again which sent her spinning away from me. With the speed I knew wasn't mine, I sprinted over to where my victim had fallen and slammed my foot down on her chest, which caused her to cough weakly.

"Where should I start tearing you apart from!?"

I seethed as my mouth formed into a demonic smile. Her eyes fluttered weakly and just as I brought my foot up to complete the command I was given, a rad blur appeared at the corner of my right eye and I performed a roundhouse kick that sent Caliente spinning away from me. She rolled a short distance, but was somehow able to maneuver herself so that when the momentum that carried her along stopped, she fell into a kneeling position. She was breathing heavily and something was glowing slightly on her upper right arm.

"Come on now, go ahead and avenge your master"

Heavy breathing resounded all around as I struggled to move. Because I couldn't move, Ilet the pain overcome my senses and all of my limbs went numb, but as I let myself go, a voice that was loud and clear resound in my head.

_Raze Under Initiative Null Unit power cap removed: activate Cold Blooded Killer Drive!_

The voice stated tensely and then I finally understood who was speaking to me and why. Cryptis had been absorbed by someone that possessed the Cosmic Claw Fragment!

_That also means that his consciousness has been transferred into the claw fragment, leaving the husk of his body in reality!_

I thought tensely as I continued to try to get feeling back to my limbs. It was also then I realized what had happened and why.

"The Raze Under initiative Null Unit; supposedly the strongest creation that the United Chameleon Island Chain created still falls to an inferior species?"

The human's voice asked as the numbness started to go away. I didn't want to make any movements until I felt that the opportune moment came, which I didn't know if it would.

"I really thought your show of power would amaze me"

The voice continued as I was picked up by the back of my head. I groaned from the force that I was grabbed with and the speed that I was picked up by. Thankfully, my vision wasn't distorted and I met the human's sneering face. The odd article hid everything but his mouth, which showed a smile that sent a shiver down my spine.

"Supposedly, this form that you've taken allows your bones and muscle to be one hundred times stronger and your reaction time and dexterity to be twice that; so either you're not trying or you can't use this power; which one is it!?"

He asked angrily, shaking me slightly as my opponents lined up next to him on the left side of where he was standing. Without warning, he increased the grip of his hand and I clenched my teeth together from the pain as he flipped something into the air and caught it artistically with the hand he wasn't holding and held the blade to my throat. The cold metal caused me to shiver and my eyes moved themselves to look at Caliente. The human raised me up a short distance and turned around to hold me in front of her.

"Go ahead my servent, take the power that this individual possesses and do what you were created to"

He said ominously, but right after he finished this statement, power flew through me and I suddenly found myself a short distance from him and the others, holding Caliente by her neck with my right hand and with my left hand with all of my claws at her throat.

"Go ahead, see what it gets you"

She seethed, and a moment later, without me telling my body to, my left hand went through her neck and out the back of it, sending a gurgling sound through the area and a shower of blood onto my hand. The human twitched and others stood perfectly still as thin lines of black and red color started to come from her body and up to my upper right arm. As her body started to wither I started to laugh uncontrollably as I started to shake. The pain and numbness instantly vanished as something started to appear on my left arm and glow.

"Kill him, now!"

The creature next to the human commended SuperCell and Rojo tensely. They nodded slightly and they both launched at me. I smiled to myself and as they slid to a stop in front of me, with SuperCell throwing an inside crescent kick and Rojo throwing a punch, both of which I stopped with my right hand by directing her punch into Rojo's fist. Since I felt the elemental and magic energy as they were racing towards me, I decided that was my best option, but it wasn't me that was fighting and I constantly had to remind myself of this. They both staggered backwards and resetted, while I stood and crossed my arms in front of me in a taunting matter. Rojo was the first to react, throwing another punch that engulfed his fist in flame, which caught with my left hand, which was larger than his fist. He brought his head up to look at me and I saw his horrified expression that caused me to smile. I closed that hand into a fistt and heard multiple cracking sounds that caused him to cry out in pain as he tried to take his fist from my hand. With his other hand, he was able to strike the left side of my face. I felt the impact and my head moved to the left slightly. I growled deeply and used my left hand, made it into a fist and delivered an uppercut that snapped his head back that hit with to much force, he flew into the air, but before he was out of my reach, I grabbed him by his neck and slammed him back into the ground and roundhouse kicked him into SuperCell, who was looking at me with a dumbfounded expression. When Rojo slammed into SuperCell a loud cracking sound went through the area and they tumbled a short distance and when they stopped, were motionless. I thought I was going to walk over to them, but once again, this wasn't me, so before I knew it, I had picked up Rojo and put him on top of SuperCell, as they were both unconscious. I then brought my foot up and slammed down on his chest, which caved in slightly.

"There is no reason any of you should be spared!"

I yelled with hatred as I brought my head up to see the creature standing a few feet away from me. Since it was twilight, I could see some of its features with the most prominent the extensions that went from being its eyes and went up the sides of its face. It was sneering as if everything that had happened here was meaningless to it. That angered me and I increased the pressure of my foot somewhat and the individuals under my feet started to wheeze.

"If you kill them, you'll only be helping me"

It said with indifference as it shrugged and at that moment, a wave of pain coursed over me which caused me to lose my balance and stumble back a couple of steps. My arms went the sides of my head as all of my muscles started to tense.

_This is it; this is all the time you have left!_

The voice called to me as something loud and rhythmic started to resound in my head. I dropped my arms back to their sides and when my vision cleared, my opponents, SuperCell and Rojo were standing in front of me, holding their right clawed hands in front of their chests. Their middle claws were glowing so brightly, I had to look away.

"Claw Fragment Limit Modulators Activated"

They started in unison as the pain started to intensify. I balled my hands into fists and looked up into the multicolored sky. I knew that I had little time to finish what I was created to do, so I took a deep breath as I felt lines of heat crawl over my body. A flickering light manifested in the corner of my right eye as they started to speak again in unison.

"Infinite power ceiling released!"

They continued in unison and right after they finished their statement, the light became blidning, and I became lost in a sea of pain and yelling that increased in volume. A strong wind nearly knocked me over, but I was barely able to keep my balance as I shielded myself with my crossed arms as the light died down. The pain didn't, which kept me in reality. I rubbed my eyes and returned to my stance, knowing the next two actions I was going to take and since I was reaching the limit of my body's capability, I deeded to finish this on my first try. The two lights that dominated my vision were yellow and red in color that pulsed slightly.

"It makes no difference now"

I growled to myself as I felt the air displace, which prompted me to take a counter stance. Because I couldn't make anything distinguishable from my sight, I relied on the instinct my creator gave me. As soon as something impacted my chest, my right arm flashed upwards and grabbed something. The other arm followed and my vision cleared enough to see that I was holding them by their faces. I smiled to myself and slammed Rojo and SuperCell together so hard, something odd happened.

"No you fool; what are you doing!?"

The Shadow Stepper shrieked as they struggled weakly against my hold. I saw the Shadow Stepper running at me, but multiple lines of something that had erupted from the ground stopped him.

"There's no need"

The human stated as a flash of light went through the area. It didn't blind me, so I increased the pressure as I felt the two entities merge.

_I wasn't expecting this, but now all I need to do now is finished what I started_

I thought tensely as the light died down and I could see what had happened. There in front of me was an orb of light that that was orange and color that had an aura that was pulsing a weak yellow and red color.

"What have you done!?"

The creature shireked as I put my hand out to the orb. I could feel the magic energy that was compressed into this orb, which meant my plan was going to be successful. I needed this amount of energy for my plan and I now had only moments left to execute it.

"Sacrifices need to be made"

I growled to myself as the orb dropped into my hand where I held it for a moment before I made my hand into a fist, which shattered the sphere. The moment it broke, my mouth started to form words that shocked me.

"Experimental soul-pairing sequence intiated"

I said as my gaze dropped to the ground as a feeling of dread washed over me. A loud rattling sound filled the area that caused the ground me to shake violently as the pain spiked, which caused me to grit my teeth.

"Magic bridges connected: power coupler activated!"

I yelled suddenly as my head snapped up and I launched into a run where every one of my steps created a small explosion near my feet that sent smoke, embers, dust and ash into the air that blinded me, but I continued forward, not able to see my target, but sense it. Every step I took resounded in my body, which numbed the pain as I raced through the hazy air. As I ran, my vision became a sequence of memories with the time I spent in existance. From the moment I was given life, I knew that my purpose was to serve and protect my creator.

_I vowed that as my first words_

I reminded myself as my right arm drew backwards and my claws started to heat up for some reason.

_I will remain loyal to him_

I affirmed to myself as my arm thrust itself forwards and my claws impacted something cold and as soon as it did, a voice cried out.

"No; what are you doing!?"

The voice cried out as my arms started to tear away whatever these small and cold metallic items were. They broke apart easily and a stinging sensation that was similar to when Cryptis did tests on me that involved syringes coursed over my body. The sentimental thought flashed away as I tore the final layer of whatever these were away and I met the scared face of my enemy as I drew my arm back for what I knew was my final time.

"My master belongs to me, not you!"

I declared as I rammed my fist into his chest, which caved inwards and the momentum that carried me along caused me to stumble a short distance forward. I was able to keep my balance, but I fell to my knees as something landed roughly in front of me. The individual yelped and started into a coughing fit that brought relief to me.

"Thank you"

The individual said as my vision cleared. I didn't need to know who it was because I had been fighting for him this entire time.

"Go help the others"

I commanded him as I picked him up from the middle of his body and swung him two times around my body and let go. I saw his smiling face as I let go of him.

"You were a great and faithful bodyguard; given the chance, I will rebuild you"

He said as I surrendered to the power that was pressing against me,. The thought of his statement was the last thing I thought before an explosion resounded in my ears and in the same moment, I saw or felt nothing. My fate was sealed and I accepted it gladly, knowing that my purpose was fulfilled.

Chapter 3

Complications

Ruin's P.O.V.

His presence was near me and the energy that rested in me was itching for battle. The area that I had arrived at still had the tension of battle and my limiters were becoming weak.

_If I don't find Cryptis soon, I will perish!_

I reminded myself as my right arm lifted itself without me telling to and my hand went to one of the beads that ringed my neck. The one that my hand went felt sharp edges that signified that my limiter was close to failing. The cold material was some comfort, but I quickly brushed the sentiment away and let my mind return to what I was made for: protecting Cryptis at all costs. I casually pushed a tree to the side and I took in the sight of the area. Three individuals of the yoshi species were on the ground, accompanied by one individual of the chameleon species that was struggling to stay alive, one human and….him. Sparked by the influence of the Devil Gene and with the lust for battle that I was incapable of controlling drove me forward.

"So, that makes six"

The human said wistfully as the creature that I was created to destroy brought its right arm back and opened it, exposing wickedly sharp claws that glowed different colors. Without warning, a wave of anger, greed and unknown motivation coursed over me and I started to walk forward. My body started to twitch uncontrollably as I walked, moving by the will of my emotions and not my brain telling it to.

"You have some nerve to show up here, Raze Under Initiative Null unit!"

A voice called out to me, which stopped me cold and dead in my tracks. Wave after wave of cold and hot coursed up and down my body as the individuals who were standing turned to look at me. I could easily identify all of them: Shadow Stepper, Rojo, Emperor, ThunderHead, Lemon, Abyss, and…. Her. the Devil Gene reacted to the influences in the area and manifested itself by my body twitching.

_I'm not going to be able to control myself at this point!_

I thought tensely as something started to glow brilliantly, which was accompanied by a wave of magic energy that flooded the area. I was unsure of why this was happening and I knew that this wasn't going to go well. I knew that Cryptis was here, and at that moment, I lost control of my body. My consciousness was kicked to the corner of my mind and the Devil Gene took over, which meant that I had very little, if control over what happened next.

"Where…..is….he!?"

I seethed, shaking visibly as the light died down and my vision returned, which prompted me to take my fighting stance as I felt the familiar stinging sensation that coursed over my body, which meant that I was calibrating for battle. This included thickening my blood and increasing my muscle mass slightly and diverting blood to needed areas of my body and cutting circulation off to others that I didn't need. My question caused the human and the Shadow Stepper to chuckle.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

The Shadow Stepper declared as I finally noticed what had changed. Lemon and ThunderHead were missing and Rojo had changed to another form. With this minor confusion, I stiffened slightly and gave some of my attention to my surroundings.

"So, this is what you call allies?"

The Shadow Stepper asked as the lines that were wrapped around its hands started to uncoil and slither along the ground, which startled me somewhat, but I didn't let any of that concern me.

"I call them puppets; bags of flesh to do my bidding!"

The creature continued as I finally understood the gravity of the situation I had placed myself in: the Shadow Stepper had somehow unbound itself from the Abyssal Void and was now capable of moving between the two worlds _at will_.

_Wait! That means_

I thought tesnely as the creature continued while the wires climbed up the individuals of my species that were near it.

"You see, being the creator of something gives you full rights to treat what you've created however you want"

It continued with a smug look on its face as I watched the wires coil themselves around the necks of my acquaintances. I couldn't understand how I wasn't fighting at this point, but I could only narrow the possibilities down to having the minute control that I hypothesized that I had. The mist was darkening and I felt my neck starting to heat up.

_If I don't start releasing this energy soon_

I started to think, but I felt the air displaced and I felt a shockwave of energy pulse through me and with the speed that I possessed, I parried three attacks and resetted into my stance, where I found myself in the middle of a circle of individuals that was created by Rojo, something that looked like the combination of Lemon and ThunderHead and her. Off in the distance, I could see the Shadow Stepper and the human watching me, but there was another presence that I could feel, but couldn't pinpoint for some reason.

"Why will you not fight me yourself!?"

I growled loudly, which caused the ring of individuals around me to flinch. At that moment, a very faint voice resounded in my mind. I looked around wildly, and the ring of individuals around me started their assault. Rojo threw a punch that I directed into the combination of Lemon and ThunderHead. His punch impacted her axe-kick that sent the area into smoke, ash and embers. I used this to break away from the group and reset, but something drove an elbow into my chest and I slid backwards from the force that I was hit with.

"I surely haven't seen this before!"

The voice marveled as I strained to see through the billowing smoke that clouded my vision. I knew this voice and I didn't like it!

"It seems that you have something that doesn't belong to you"

The same voice said, changing to a tone that was somewhere between anger and a taunting fashion. Confused my this, my stance faltered and something sent me forwards and for the first time in a long time, I felt pain. I staggered forward a couple of steps and took my stance again shakily.

"This doesn't belong to you specifically"

I stated evenly, shifting my left eye to see behind me while my other eye focused on this individual. At this point, the frustration of being hit and feeling pain was starting to become overwhelming.

_Ruin_

The voice called again in my mind, which caused me to look around again. As soon as I took my eye of the individual, something impacted the side of my head, which sent me spinning off into the left, which meant that the attack had come from the right. I growled to myself as I hit the ground and quickly returned to my stance again, but this time, the individuals that had made the ring around me were laughing at something.

"Come on Ruin, you're not this bad at fighting!"

Rojo taunted me as I shook my head to clear some of the nausea that I was starting to experience. The combination of Thunderhead and Lemon also started to chuckle and at that moment, the nausea I was trying to control washed over me and I dropped to my knees while pain started to course over me. I had no idea what was happening, as I had never experienced this event before. As soon as I dropped to my knees, something grabbed me by my neck and I was yanked into the air. The grip was strong and it started to cut off my ability to breathe. I tried to move my limbs but nothing was responding for some reason!

"This is the height of Cryptis's creations and technology!?"

One of the voices taunted me as I tried to rationalize what was going on. Based on what was happening, there was only two logical remedies to this situation and none of them were optimal. One was succumbing to my enemy and letting my creator down and the other…..

_It's the only logical end, but it will cost my life_

I thought tensely with a minute trace of depression as something impaled my body. I didn't feel the pain oddly, but the moment the individual ripped its fist out of my chest, anger exploded through my body.

"Get off me!"

I yelled suddenly, kicking the individual who had impaled me so hard, the air displaced around me and I fell to the ground shaking slightly. I laid there for a moment, putting my hand to my chest to feel the blood that rarely manifested itself. The anger liked it and involuntarily, my hand went to my mouth and I licked the blood off of one of my fingers and got up, laughing quietly as I did.

_That's it;I've lost my mind!_

I exclaimed mentally with the uncontrollable giddiness that the Devil Gene influenced me with. I blinked a couple of times and rubbed the foreign substances from my eyes and the laser focus vision Cryptis gave me set itself into my eyes.

_Rojo, SuperCell, Caliente,the Shadow Stepper and Serpiente _

The voice said to me.

_Initiate command: Kill All_

The voice continued as my right hand went up to my neck.

_No, Stop!_

I cried mentally, but it was no use, my index claw twitched, which severed the string that held my limiter in place. As soon as the string was severed, a blue-black aura manifested itself as orange mist started to rise from my scales. For a moment, the cold black sphere I held brought some comfort before I clenched my hand into a fist, which shattered the orb. A shockwave of air went through the area, sending my opponents back a short distance as I felt the last of my natural self give into the power that rested in me.

"Command Received: proceeding to kill all organic life forms in the area!"

I shouted as I learned forwards while my arms went limp. My jaw tightened to much, some of my teeth shattered as my right hand started to glow a purple-black color.

"My name is the Raze Under Initiative Unit, the strongest creation of Cryptis; my purpose is to destroy anything that threatens the existence of my creator!"

I announced as I felt my heartbeat stop, which meant that this was my last fight. I slowly returned to my standing position with thunder resounding in the distance. The others looked up and as they did, a bolt of lighting flashed, blinding everyone for a moment, but I knew this lightning bolt was for me; it ended my transformation and jump started the changes needed for this form to function. When the light died down, I saw the others running at me as fast as they could, except for the human and the Shadow Stepper. I half smiled to myself and I took my stance for a moment before the others slid to a stop and all of us punched at the same time, our fists met, which sent the area into smoke, dust, fire, ashes, and into the crackling of electricity. There was no time for my mind to react, but it wasn't me who was fighting. A flash of yellow color that started a bicycle kick prompted me to duck. I lunged forward, narrowly missing a chop that was aimed for my neck. I backhanded Rojo, which sent the elbow that was meant for me into Caliente's face. Unphased, she resetted and while I was focused on that, a kick was driven into my left side which didn't move or hurt me. I leaned back, narrowly missing a projectile that was silver in color.

"This isn't your fight!"

I growled at the human, who shrugged.

"I can't have any fun?"

He asked with a shrug and as i was about to respond, a punch was driven into my back, knocking me forward a couple of steps from the force I was hit with. I felt something running down the left side of my mouth and involuntarily, I put my left hand up to feel what it was.

_More blood!_

The voice commanded me, which prompted me to turn and face my assailants once again, but this time, more anger coursed through me. I ducked a spinning jump kick and waited for the individual to land before driving a hate-filled punch into their face, which sent the individual reeling. The muscles in my legs tensed, and before I knew it, I was in the air about to terminate my target. Before I could comprehend that I wasn't moving, I was yanked backwards and slammed into the ground. I was stunned only for a moment, but that was the amount of time needed for me to the grabbed and thrown. I flew through the air for a moment before I impacted something that grunted on impact. Anger prompted me to get up, but I wasn't quick enough this time, as something landed to my left, which showered me with dust and dirt. The next moment, I was grabbed by my leg and was raised and slammed into the ground two times, once to the left and right of where I was laying. The second time I impacted the ground, I was stunned, and this gave my assailant time to start landing punches as I was pinned to the ground. After the third punch landed, my libs were able to move and I raised my arms quickly and crossed my arms together at my wrists and balled my hands into fists to block the punches I was receiving. The air displaced around us and I heard a grunt of pain that was followed by a large amount of pressure that compressed my chest inwards. I felt no pain, but the action was repeated three more times before I was able to roll away and reset into my fighting stance,but by the time I did, a flash of red color was seen from the corner of my left eye and instinctively, I reverse axe-kicked where the color was and my heel landed a clean hit. The individual hit the ground hard and groaned softly. I took a moment to smirk, which result in me being grabbed by my shoulders and turned abruptly to face another red blur that leaned back and headbutted me. Why this individual decieded to attack me like this confused me, and the time I took to be confused was enough for me to have the individual reset for another of the same attack. I smirked to myself and just as the individual brought their head forward, I spun around the back of the individual and took their head and brought it into another of my assailants fists. When the individual cried out, which cased ThunderHead to be confused for a moment, I vaulted over the individual I was holding and launched Caliente with a hate driven snap kick.

"Dodge this!"

A voice called out in a taunting fashion, which prompted me to turn quickly. The air started to crackle, which meant that my opponent was using an electrical based attack, which I instinctively used to set into a counter stance that would allow me to send their attack right back at them. The moment I got into the stance, I felt the impact of a large spherical object that pushed me back a short distance from the inertia this object wasn't enough to phase me, as I smirked, spun around two times and threw the large electrically charged sphere right back at ThunderHead, who had just brought her head up to smirk at me, believing that her attack had landed, but as soon as she realized I had countered her attack, it was too late and she started to say something, but the sphere impacted her and the area was once again thrown into a cloud of dust, dirt and ash.

"I don't dodge"

I growled and right after I finished my statement, I felt something brush my left shoulder. I whipped around to see what it was, but since the area was obscured with smoke, I thought I was hallucinating when I saw a long and thin line that resembled as tail floating into the thicker part of the smoke. The moment I tried to figure out what this was, something landed next to me, displacing some of the smoke. I didn't have time to react, but I somehow parried a punch and three roundhouse kicks, barely missing a jet kick from ThunderHead again. I stumbled a couple of steps backwards, almost losing my balance, which caused me to receive three punches from Caliente, a roundhouse kick from Rojo and a sweep from something I couldn't see. I started to fall backwards and my arm reached out without me telling it to and the moment my fingers brushed against something, my hand clamped down on whatever it was and I was launched from something that drove a kick into my right set of ribs, which sent me and what ever I was holding onto into a high paced barrel roll. By the time I stopped, I felt nauseous, but I was still able to move my limbs slightly. I tried to move, but by the time my limbs weren't numb anymore, my head was driven into the ground and laughter started to resound in my ears. It was slightly muffled and distorted, but it was laughter. It angered me, and before I could comprehend it, I was up, narrowly missing a large boulder that would've crushed me. Rojo was barrelling towards me, so I coiled the muscles in my legs and launched into the air to meet him. I could see the blankness in his eyes, which angered me. I blocked his punch and using his lost momentum, I swung him around me and I watched him slam into the ground. The air displaced around him and just as I started to fall, something impacted my back and my back bowed in from the force that I was hit with and before I knew it, I slammed intoRojo facefirst and something landed on top of me, which forced the air from my lungs, which caused Rojo and I to start coughing. Before I could catch my breath, I heard a cracking sound that was followed by pain, which a moment later I found to be someone repeatedly stomping on me with considerable force.

_ENOUGH!_

I screamed mentally, flying to my feet and grabbing whoever was stomping on me. I raised the individual into the air, and slammed them into Rojo, who was now motionless. The anger the drove me extended my arm in a flash and grabbed the yellow individual's leg and swung them around me twice to gain momentum and managed to hit Caliente and then Rojo as he struggled to get to his feet. She flew away from me and Rojo went sprawling to my left, groaning as he rolled. Since SuperCell was still falling, I grabbed her face with my right arm, punched her midsection three times, threw her into the air again, threw an inside and outside crescent kick that ended with me backhanding her midsection again which sent her spinning away from me. With the speed I knew wasn't mine, I sprinted over to where my victim had fallen and slammed my foot down on her chest, which caused her to cough weakly.

"Where should I start tearing you apart from!?"

I seethed as my mouth formed into a demonic smile. Her eyes fluttered weakly and just as I brought my foot up to complete the command I was given, a rad blur appeared at the corner of my right eye and I performed a roundhouse kick that sent Caliente spinning away from me. She rolled a short distance, but was somehow able to maneuver herself so that when the momentum that carried her along stopped, she fell into a kneeling position. She was breathing heavily and something was glowing slightly on her upper right arm.

"Come on now, go ahead and avenge your master"

Heavy breathing resounded all around as I struggled to move. Because I couldn't move, Ilet the pain overcome my senses and all of my limbs went numb, but as I let myself go, a voice that was loud and clear resound in my head.

_Raze Under Initiative Null Unit power cap removed: activate Cold Blooded Killer Drive!_

The voice stated tensely and then I finally understood who was speaking to me and why. Cryptis had been absorbed by someone that possessed the Cosmic Claw Fragment!

_That also means that his consciousness has been transferred into the claw fragment, leaving the husk of his body in reality!_

I thought tensely as I continued to try to get feeling back to my limbs. It was also then I realized what had happened and why.

"The Raze Under initiative Null Unit; supposedly the strongest creation that the United Chameleon Island Chain created still falls to an inferior species?"

The human's voice asked as the numbness started to go away. I didn't want to make any movements until I felt that the opportune moment came, which I didn't know if it would.

"I really thought your show of power would amaze me"

The voice continued as I was picked up by the back of my head. I groaned from the force that I was grabbed with and the speed that I was picked up by. Thankfully, my vision wasn't distorted and I met the human's sneering face. The odd article hid everything but his mouth, which showed a smile that sent a shiver down my spine.

"Supposedly, this form that you've taken allows your bones and muscle to be one hundred times stronger and your reaction time and dexterity to be twice that; so either you're not trying or you can't use this power; which one is it!?"

He asked angrily, shaking me slightly as my opponents lined up next to him on the left side of where he was standing. Without warning, he increased the grip of his hand and I clenched my teeth together from the pain as he flipped something into the air and caught it artistically with the hand he wasn't holding and held the blade to my throat. The cold metal caused me to shiver and my eyes moved themselves to look at Caliente. The human raised me up a short distance and turned around to hold me in front of her.

"Go ahead my servent, take the power that this individual possesses and do what you were created to"

He said ominously, but right after he finished this statement, power flew through me and I suddenly found myself a short distance from him and the others, holding Caliente by her neck with my right hand and with my left hand with all of my claws at her throat.

"Go ahead, see what it gets you"

She seethed, and a moment later, without me telling my body to, my left hand went through her neck and out the back of it, sending a gurgling sound through the area and a shower of blood onto my hand. The human twitched and others stood perfectly still as thin lines of black and red color started to come from her body and up to my upper right arm. As her body started to wither I started to laugh uncontrollably as I started to shake. The pain and numbness instantly vanished as something started to appear on my left arm and glow.

"Kill him, now!"

The creature next to the human commended SuperCell and Rojo tensely. They nodded slightly and they both launched at me. I smiled to myself and as they slid to a stop in front of me, with SuperCell throwing an inside crescent kick and Rojo throwing a punch, both of which I stopped with my right hand by directing her punch into Rojo's fist. Since I felt the elemental and magic energy as they were racing towards me, I decided that was my best option, but it wasn't me that was fighting and I constantly had to remind myself of this. They both staggered backwards and resetted, while I stood and crossed my arms in front of me in a taunting matter. Rojo was the first to react, throwing another punch that engulfed his fist in flame, which caught with my left hand, which was larger than his fist. He brought his head up to look at me and I saw his horrified expression that caused me to smile. I closed that hand into a fistt and heard multiple cracking sounds that caused him to cry out in pain as he tried to take his fist from my hand. With his other hand, he was able to strike the left side of my face. I felt the impact and my head moved to the left slightly. I growled deeply and used my left hand, made it into a fist and delivered an uppercut that snapped his head back that hit with to much force, he flew into the air, but before he was out of my reach, I grabbed him by his neck and slammed him back into the ground and roundhouse kicked him into SuperCell, who was looking at me with a dumbfounded expression. When Rojo slammed into SuperCell a loud cracking sound went through the area and they tumbled a short distance and when they stopped, were motionless. I thought I was going to walk over to them, but once again, this wasn't me, so before I knew it, I had picked up Rojo and put him on top of SuperCell, as they were both unconscious. I then brought my foot up and slammed down on his chest, which caved in slightly.

"There is no reason any of you should be spared!"

I yelled with hatred as I brought my head up to see the creature standing a few feet away from me. Since it was twilight, I could see some of its features with the most prominent the extensions that went from being its eyes and went up the sides of its face. It was sneering as if everything that had happened here was meaningless to it. That angered me and I increased the pressure of my foot somewhat and the individuals under my feet started to wheeze.

"If you kill them, you'll only be helping me"

It said with indifference as it shrugged and at that moment, a wave of pain coursed over me which caused me to lose my balance and stumble back a couple of steps. My arms went the sides of my head as all of my muscles started to tense.

_This is it; this is all the time you have left!_

The voice called to me as something loud and rhythmic started to resound in my head. I dropped my arms back to their sides and when my vision cleared, my opponents, SuperCell and Rojo were standing in front of me, holding their right clawed hands in front of their chests. Their middle claws were glowing so brightly, I had to look away.

"Claw Fragment Limit Modulators Activated"

They started in unison as the pain started to intensify. I balled my hands into fists and looked up into the multicolored sky. I knew that I had little time to finish what I was created to do, so I took a deep breath as I felt lines of heat crawl over my body. A flickering light manifested in the corner of my right eye as they started to speak again in unison.

"Infinite power ceiling released!"

They continued in unison and right after they finished their statement, the light became blidning, and I became lost in a sea of pain and yelling that increased in volume. A strong wind nearly knocked me over, but I was barely able to keep my balance as I shielded myself with my crossed arms as the light died down. The pain didn't, which kept me in reality. I rubbed my eyes and returned to my stance, knowing the next two actions I was going to take and since I was reaching the limit of my body's capability, I deeded to finish this on my first try. The two lights that dominated my vision were yellow and red in color that pulsed slightly.

"It makes no difference now"

I growled to myself as I felt the air displace, which prompted me to take a counter stance. Because I couldn't make anything distinguishable from my sight, I relied on the instinct my creator gave me. As soon as something impacted my chest, my right arm flashed upwards and grabbed something. The other arm followed and my vision cleared enough to see that I was holding them by their faces. I smiled to myself and slammed Rojo and SuperCell together so hard, something odd happened.

"No you fool; what are you doing!?"

The Shadow Stepper shrieked as they struggled weakly against my hold. I saw the Shadow Stepper running at me, but multiple lines of something that had erupted from the ground stopped him.

"There's no need"

The human stated as a flash of light went through the area. It didn't blind me, so I increased the pressure as I felt the two entities merge.

_I wasn't expecting this, but now all I need to do now is finished what I started_

I thought tensely as the light died down and I could see what had happened. There in front of me was an orb of light that that was orange and color that had an aura that was pulsing a weak yellow and red color.

"What have you done!?"

The creature shireked as I put my hand out to the orb. I could feel the magic energy that was compressed into this orb, which meant my plan was going to be successful. I needed this amount of energy for my plan and I now had only moments left to execute it.

"Sacrifices need to be made"

I growled to myself as the orb dropped into my hand where I held it for a moment before I made my hand into a fist, which shattered the sphere. The moment it broke, my mouth started to form words that shocked me.

"Experimental soul-pairing sequence intiated"

I said as my gaze dropped to the ground as a feeling of dread washed over me. A loud rattling sound filled the area that caused the ground me to shake violently as the pain spiked, which caused me to grit my teeth.

"Magic bridges connected: power coupler activated!"

I yelled suddenly as my head snapped up and I launched into a run where every one of my steps created a small explosion near my feet that sent smoke, embers, dust and ash into the air that blinded me, but I continued forward, not able to see my target, but sense it. Every step I took resounded in my body, which numbed the pain as I raced through the hazy air. As I ran, my vision became a sequence of memories with the time I spent in existance. From the moment I was given life, I knew that my purpose was to serve and protect my creator.

_I vowed that as my first words_

I reminded myself as my right arm drew backwards and my claws started to heat up for some reason.

_I will remain loyal to him_

I affirmed to myself as my arm thrust itself forwards and my claws impacted something cold and as soon as it did, a voice cried out.

"No; what are you doing!?"

The voice cried out as my arms started to tear away whatever these small and cold metallic items were. They broke apart easily and a stinging sensation that was similar to when Cryptis did tests on me that involved syringes coursed over my body. The sentimental thought flashed away as I tore the final layer of whatever these were away and I met the scared face of my enemy as I drew my arm back for what I knew was my final time.

"My master belongs to me, not you!"

I declared as I rammed my fist into his chest, which caved inwards and the momentum that carried me along caused me to stumble a short distance forward. I was able to keep my balance, but I fell to my knees as something landed roughly in front of me. The individual yelped and started into a coughing fit that brought relief to me.

"Thank you"

The individual said as my vision cleared. I didn't need to know who it was because I had been fighting for him this entire time.

"Go help the others"

I commanded him as I picked him up from the middle of his body and swung him two times around my body and let go. I saw his smiling face as I let go of him.

"You were a great and faithful bodyguard; given the chance, I will rebuild you"

He said as I surrendered to the power that was pressing against me,. The thought of his statement was the last thing I thought before an explosion resounded in my ears and in the same moment, I saw or felt nothing. My fate was sealed and I accepted it gladly, knowing that my purpose was fulfilled.

Chapter 3

Complications

Ruin's P.O.V.

His presence was near me and the energy that rested in me was itching for battle. The area that I had arrived at still had the tension of battle and my limiters were becoming weak.

_If I don't find Cryptis soon, I will perish!_

I reminded myself as my right arm lifted itself without me telling to and my hand went to one of the beads that ringed my neck. The one that my hand went felt sharp edges that signified that my limiter was close to failing. The cold material was some comfort, but I quickly brushed the sentiment away and let my mind return to what I was made for: protecting Cryptis at all costs. I casually pushed a tree to the side and I took in the sight of the area. Three individuals of the yoshi species were on the ground, accompanied by one individual of the chameleon species that was struggling to stay alive, one human and….him. Sparked by the influence of the Devil Gene and with the lust for battle that I was incapable of controlling drove me forward.

"So, that makes six"

The human said wistfully as the creature that I was created to destroy brought its right arm back and opened it, exposing wickedly sharp claws that glowed different colors. Without warning, a wave of anger, greed and unknown motivation coursed over me and I started to walk forward. My body started to twitch uncontrollably as I walked, moving by the will of my emotions and not my brain telling it to.

"You have some nerve to show up here, Raze Under Initiative Null unit!"

A voice called out to me, which stopped me cold and dead in my tracks. Wave after wave of cold and hot coursed up and down my body as the individuals who were standing turned to look at me. I could easily identify all of them: Shadow Stepper, Rojo, Emperor, ThunderHead, Lemon, Abyss, and…. Her. the Devil Gene reacted to the influences in the area and manifested itself by my body twitching.

_I'm not going to be able to control myself at this point!_

I thought tensely as something started to glow brilliantly, which was accompanied by a wave of magic energy that flooded the area. I was unsure of why this was happening and I knew that this wasn't going to go well. I knew that Cryptis was here, and at that moment, I lost control of my body. My consciousness was kicked to the corner of my mind and the Devil Gene took over, which meant that I had very little, if control over what happened next.

"Where…..is….he!?"

I seethed, shaking visibly as the light died down and my vision returned, which prompted me to take my fighting stance as I felt the familiar stinging sensation that coursed over my body, which meant that I was calibrating for battle. This included thickening my blood and increasing my muscle mass slightly and diverting blood to needed areas of my body and cutting circulation off to others that I didn't need. My question caused the human and the Shadow Stepper to chuckle.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

The Shadow Stepper declared as I finally noticed what had changed. Lemon and ThunderHead were missing and Rojo had changed to another form. With this minor confusion, I stiffened slightly and gave some of my attention to my surroundings.

"So, this is what you call allies?"

The Shadow Stepper asked as the lines that were wrapped around its hands started to uncoil and slither along the ground, which startled me somewhat, but I didn't let any of that concern me.

"I call them puppets; bags of flesh to do my bidding!"

The creature continued as I finally understood the gravity of the situation I had placed myself in: the Shadow Stepper had somehow unbound itself from the Abyssal Void and was now capable of moving between the two worlds _at will_.

_Wait! That means_

I thought tesnely as the creature continued while the wires climbed up the individuals of my species that were near it.

"You see, being the creator of something gives you full rights to treat what you've created however you want"

It continued with a smug look on its face as I watched the wires coil themselves around the necks of my acquaintances. I couldn't understand how I wasn't fighting at this point, but I could only narrow the possibilities down to having the minute control that I hypothesized that I had. The mist was darkening and I felt my neck starting to heat up.

_If I don't start releasing this energy soon_

I started to think, but I felt the air displaced and I felt a shockwave of energy pulse through me and with the speed that I possessed, I parried three attacks and resetted into my stance, where I found myself in the middle of a circle of individuals that was created by Rojo, something that looked like the combination of Lemon and ThunderHead and her. Off in the distance, I could see the Shadow Stepper and the human watching me, but there was another presence that I could feel, but couldn't pinpoint for some reason.

"Why will you not fight me yourself!?"

I growled loudly, which caused the ring of individuals around me to flinch. At that moment, a very faint voice resounded in my mind. I looked around wildly, and the ring of individuals around me started their assault. Rojo threw a punch that I directed into the combination of Lemon and ThunderHead. His punch impacted her axe-kick that sent the area into smoke, ash and embers. I used this to break away from the group and reset, but something drove an elbow into my chest and I slid backwards from the force that I was hit with.

"I surely haven't seen this before!"

The voice marveled as I strained to see through the billowing smoke that clouded my vision. I knew this voice and I didn't like it!

"It seems that you have something that doesn't belong to you"

The same voice said, changing to a tone that was somewhere between anger and a taunting fashion. Confused my this, my stance faltered and something sent me forwards and for the first time in a long time, I felt pain. I staggered forward a couple of steps and took my stance again shakily.

"This doesn't belong to you specifically"

I stated evenly, shifting my left eye to see behind me while my other eye focused on this individual. At this point, the frustration of being hit and feeling pain was starting to become overwhelming.

_Ruin_

The voice called again in my mind, which caused me to look around again. As soon as I took my eye of the individual, something impacted the side of my head, which sent me spinning off into the left, which meant that the attack had come from the right. I growled to myself as I hit the ground and quickly returned to my stance again, but this time, the individuals that had made the ring around me were laughing at something.

"Come on Ruin, you're not this bad at fighting!"

Rojo taunted me as I shook my head to clear some of the nausea that I was starting to experience. The combination of Thunderhead and Lemon also started to chuckle and at that moment, the nausea I was trying to control washed over me and I dropped to my knees while pain started to course over me. I had no idea what was happening, as I had never experienced this event before. As soon as I dropped to my knees, something grabbed me by my neck and I was yanked into the air. The grip was strong and it started to cut off my ability to breathe. I tried to move my limbs but nothing was responding for some reason!

"This is the height of Cryptis's creations and technology!?"

One of the voices taunted me as I tried to rationalize what was going on. Based on what was happening, there was only two logical remedies to this situation and none of them were optimal. One was succumbing to my enemy and letting my creator down and the other…..

_It's the only logical end, but it will cost my life_

I thought tensely with a minute trace of depression as something impaled my body. I didn't feel the pain oddly, but the moment the individual ripped its fist out of my chest, anger exploded through my body.

"Get off me!"

I yelled suddenly, kicking the individual who had impaled me so hard, the air displaced around me and I fell to the ground shaking slightly. I laid there for a moment, putting my hand to my chest to feel the blood that rarely manifested itself. The anger liked it and involuntarily, my hand went to my mouth and I licked the blood off of one of my fingers and got up, laughing quietly as I did.

_That's it;I've lost my mind!_

I exclaimed mentally with the uncontrollable giddiness that the Devil Gene influenced me with. I blinked a couple of times and rubbed the foreign substances from my eyes and the laser focus vision Cryptis gave me set itself into my eyes.

_Rojo, SuperCell, Caliente,the Shadow Stepper and Serpiente _

The voice said to me.

_Initiate command: Kill All_

The voice continued as my right hand went up to my neck.

_No, Stop!_

I cried mentally, but it was no use, my index claw twitched, which severed the string that held my limiter in place. As soon as the string was severed, a blue-black aura manifested itself as orange mist started to rise from my scales. For a moment, the cold black sphere I held brought some comfort before I clenched my hand into a fist, which shattered the orb. A shockwave of air went through the area, sending my opponents back a short distance as I felt the last of my natural self give into the power that rested in me.

"Command Received: proceeding to kill all organic life forms in the area!"

I shouted as I learned forwards while my arms went limp. My jaw tightened to much, some of my teeth shattered as my right hand started to glow a purple-black color.

"My name is the Raze Under Initiative Unit, the strongest creation of Cryptis; my purpose is to destroy anything that threatens the existence of my creator!"

I announced as I felt my heartbeat stop, which meant that this was my last fight. I slowly returned to my standing position with thunder resounding in the distance. The others looked up and as they did, a bolt of lighting flashed, blinding everyone for a moment, but I knew this lightning bolt was for me; it ended my transformation and jump started the changes needed for this form to function. When the light died down, I saw the others running at me as fast as they could, except for the human and the Shadow Stepper. I half smiled to myself and I took my stance for a moment before the others slid to a stop and all of us punched at the same time, our fists met, which sent the area into smoke, dust, fire, ashes, and into the crackling of electricity. There was no time for my mind to react, but it wasn't me who was fighting. A flash of yellow color that started a bicycle kick prompted me to duck. I lunged forward, narrowly missing a chop that was aimed for my neck. I backhanded Rojo, which sent the elbow that was meant for me into Caliente's face. Unphased, she resetted and while I was focused on that, a kick was driven into my left side which didn't move or hurt me. I leaned back, narrowly missing a projectile that was silver in color.

"This isn't your fight!"

I growled at the human, who shrugged.

"I can't have any fun?"

He asked with a shrug and as i was about to respond, a punch was driven into my back, knocking me forward a couple of steps from the force I was hit with. I felt something running down the left side of my mouth and involuntarily, I put my left hand up to feel what it was.

_More blood!_

The voice commanded me, which prompted me to turn and face my assailants once again, but this time, more anger coursed through me. I ducked a spinning jump kick and waited for the individual to land before driving a hate-filled punch into their face, which sent the individual reeling. The muscles in my legs tensed, and before I knew it, I was in the air about to terminate my target. Before I could comprehend that I wasn't moving, I was yanked backwards and slammed into the ground. I was stunned only for a moment, but that was the amount of time needed for me to the grabbed and thrown. I flew through the air for a moment before I impacted something that grunted on impact. Anger prompted me to get up, but I wasn't quick enough this time, as something landed to my left, which showered me with dust and dirt. The next moment, I was grabbed by my leg and was raised and slammed into the ground two times, once to the left and right of where I was laying. The second time I impacted the ground, I was stunned, and this gave my assailant time to start landing punches as I was pinned to the ground. After the third punch landed, my libs were able to move and I raised my arms quickly and crossed my arms together at my wrists and balled my hands into fists to block the punches I was receiving. The air displaced around us and I heard a grunt of pain that was followed by a large amount of pressure that compressed my chest inwards. I felt no pain, but the action was repeated three more times before I was able to roll away and reset into my fighting stance,but by the time I did, a flash of red color was seen from the corner of my left eye and instinctively, I reverse axe-kicked where the color was and my heel landed a clean hit. The individual hit the ground hard and groaned softly. I took a moment to smirk, which result in me being grabbed by my shoulders and turned abruptly to face another red blur that leaned back and headbutted me. Why this individual decieded to attack me like this confused me, and the time I took to be confused was enough for me to have the individual reset for another of the same attack. I smirked to myself and just as the individual brought their head forward, I spun around the back of the individual and took their head and brought it into another of my assailants fists. When the individual cried out, which cased ThunderHead to be confused for a moment, I vaulted over the individual I was holding and launched Caliente with a hate driven snap kick.

"Dodge this!"

A voice called out in a taunting fashion, which prompted me to turn quickly. The air started to crackle, which meant that my opponent was using an electrical based attack, which I instinctively used to set into a counter stance that would allow me to send their attack right back at them. The moment I got into the stance, I felt the impact of a large spherical object that pushed me back a short distance from the inertia this object wasn't enough to phase me, as I smirked, spun around two times and threw the large electrically charged sphere right back at ThunderHead, who had just brought her head up to smirk at me, believing that her attack had landed, but as soon as she realized I had countered her attack, it was too late and she started to say something, but the sphere impacted her and the area was once again thrown into a cloud of dust, dirt and ash.

"I don't dodge"

I growled and right after I finished my statement, I felt something brush my left shoulder. I whipped around to see what it was, but since the area was obscured with smoke, I thought I was hallucinating when I saw a long and thin line that resembled as tail floating into the thicker part of the smoke. The moment I tried to figure out what this was, something landed next to me, displacing some of the smoke. I didn't have time to react, but I somehow parried a punch and three roundhouse kicks, barely missing a jet kick from ThunderHead again. I stumbled a couple of steps backwards, almost losing my balance, which caused me to receive three punches from Caliente, a roundhouse kick from Rojo and a sweep from something I couldn't see. I started to fall backwards and my arm reached out without me telling it to and the moment my fingers brushed against something, my hand clamped down on whatever it was and I was launched from something that drove a kick into my right set of ribs, which sent me and what ever I was holding onto into a high paced barrel roll. By the time I stopped, I felt nauseous, but I was still able to move my limbs slightly. I tried to move, but by the time my limbs weren't numb anymore, my head was driven into the ground and laughter started to resound in my ears. It was slightly muffled and distorted, but it was laughter. It angered me, and before I could comprehend it, I was up, narrowly missing a large boulder that would've crushed me. Rojo was barrelling towards me, so I coiled the muscles in my legs and launched into the air to meet him. I could see the blankness in his eyes, which angered me. I blocked his punch and using his lost momentum, I swung him around me and I watched him slam into the ground. The air displaced around him and just as I started to fall, something impacted my back and my back bowed in from the force that I was hit with and before I knew it, I slammed intoRojo facefirst and something landed on top of me, which forced the air from my lungs, which caused Rojo and I to start coughing. Before I could catch my breath, I heard a cracking sound that was followed by pain, which a moment later I found to be someone repeatedly stomping on me with considerable force.

_ENOUGH!_

I screamed mentally, flying to my feet and grabbing whoever was stomping on me. I raised the individual into the air, and slammed them into Rojo, who was now motionless. The anger the drove me extended my arm in a flash and grabbed the yellow individual's leg and swung them around me twice to gain momentum and managed to hit Caliente and then Rojo as he struggled to get to his feet. She flew away from me and Rojo went sprawling to my left, groaning as he rolled. Since SuperCell was still falling, I grabbed her face with my right arm, punched her midsection three times, threw her into the air again, threw an inside and outside crescent kick that ended with me backhanding her midsection again which sent her spinning away from me. With the speed I knew wasn't mine, I sprinted over to where my victim had fallen and slammed my foot down on her chest, which caused her to cough weakly.

"Where should I start tearing you apart from!?"

I seethed as my mouth formed into a demonic smile. Her eyes fluttered weakly and just as I brought my foot up to complete the command I was given, a rad blur appeared at the corner of my right eye and I performed a roundhouse kick that sent Caliente spinning away from me. She rolled a short distance, but was somehow able to maneuver herself so that when the momentum that carried her along stopped, she fell into a kneeling position. She was breathing heavily and something was glowing slightly on her upper right arm.

"Come on now, go ahead and avenge your master"

Heavy breathing resounded all around as I struggled to move. Because I couldn't move, Ilet the pain overcome my senses and all of my limbs went numb, but as I let myself go, a voice that was loud and clear resound in my head.

_Raze Under Initiative Null Unit power cap removed: activate Cold Blooded Killer Drive!_

The voice stated tensely and then I finally understood who was speaking to me and why. Cryptis had been absorbed by someone that possessed the Cosmic Claw Fragment!

_That also means that his consciousness has been transferred into the claw fragment, leaving the husk of his body in reality!_

I thought tensely as I continued to try to get feeling back to my limbs. It was also then I realized what had happened and why.

"The Raze Under initiative Null Unit; supposedly the strongest creation that the United Chameleon Island Chain created still falls to an inferior species?"

The human's voice asked as the numbness started to go away. I didn't want to make any movements until I felt that the opportune moment came, which I didn't know if it would.

"I really thought your show of power would amaze me"

The voice continued as I was picked up by the back of my head. I groaned from the force that I was grabbed with and the speed that I was picked up by. Thankfully, my vision wasn't distorted and I met the human's sneering face. The odd article hid everything but his mouth, which showed a smile that sent a shiver down my spine.

"Supposedly, this form that you've taken allows your bones and muscle to be one hundred times stronger and your reaction time and dexterity to be twice that; so either you're not trying or you can't use this power; which one is it!?"

He asked angrily, shaking me slightly as my opponents lined up next to him on the left side of where he was standing. Without warning, he increased the grip of his hand and I clenched my teeth together from the pain as he flipped something into the air and caught it artistically with the hand he wasn't holding and held the blade to my throat. The cold metal caused me to shiver and my eyes moved themselves to look at Caliente. The human raised me up a short distance and turned around to hold me in front of her.

"Go ahead my servent, take the power that this individual possesses and do what you were created to"

He said ominously, but right after he finished this statement, power flew through me and I suddenly found myself a short distance from him and the others, holding Caliente by her neck with my right hand and with my left hand with all of my claws at her throat.

"Go ahead, see what it gets you"

She seethed, and a moment later, without me telling my body to, my left hand went through her neck and out the back of it, sending a gurgling sound through the area and a shower of blood onto my hand. The human twitched and others stood perfectly still as thin lines of black and red color started to come from her body and up to my upper right arm. As her body started to wither I started to laugh uncontrollably as I started to shake. The pain and numbness instantly vanished as something started to appear on my left arm and glow.

"Kill him, now!"

The creature next to the human commended SuperCell and Rojo tensely. They nodded slightly and they both launched at me. I smiled to myself and as they slid to a stop in front of me, with SuperCell throwing an inside crescent kick and Rojo throwing a punch, both of which I stopped with my right hand by directing her punch into Rojo's fist. Since I felt the elemental and magic energy as they were racing towards me, I decided that was my best option, but it wasn't me that was fighting and I constantly had to remind myself of this. They both staggered backwards and resetted, while I stood and crossed my arms in front of me in a taunting matter. Rojo was the first to react, throwing another punch that engulfed his fist in flame, which caught with my left hand, which was larger than his fist. He brought his head up to look at me and I saw his horrified expression that caused me to smile. I closed that hand into a fistt and heard multiple cracking sounds that caused him to cry out in pain as he tried to take his fist from my hand. With his other hand, he was able to strike the left side of my face. I felt the impact and my head moved to the left slightly. I growled deeply and used my left hand, made it into a fist and delivered an uppercut that snapped his head back that hit with to much force, he flew into the air, but before he was out of my reach, I grabbed him by his neck and slammed him back into the ground and roundhouse kicked him into SuperCell, who was looking at me with a dumbfounded expression. When Rojo slammed into SuperCell a loud cracking sound went through the area and they tumbled a short distance and when they stopped, were motionless. I thought I was going to walk over to them, but once again, this wasn't me, so before I knew it, I had picked up Rojo and put him on top of SuperCell, as they were both unconscious. I then brought my foot up and slammed down on his chest, which caved in slightly.

"There is no reason any of you should be spared!"

I yelled with hatred as I brought my head up to see the creature standing a few feet away from me. Since it was twilight, I could see some of its features with the most prominent the extensions that went from being its eyes and went up the sides of its face. It was sneering as if everything that had happened here was meaningless to it. That angered me and I increased the pressure of my foot somewhat and the individuals under my feet started to wheeze.

"If you kill them, you'll only be helping me"

It said with indifference as it shrugged and at that moment, a wave of pain coursed over me which caused me to lose my balance and stumble back a couple of steps. My arms went the sides of my head as all of my muscles started to tense.

_This is it; this is all the time you have left!_

The voice called to me as something loud and rhythmic started to resound in my head. I dropped my arms back to their sides and when my vision cleared, my opponents, SuperCell and Rojo were standing in front of me, holding their right clawed hands in front of their chests. Their middle claws were glowing so brightly, I had to look away.

"Claw Fragment Limit Modulators Activated"

They started in unison as the pain started to intensify. I balled my hands into fists and looked up into the multicolored sky. I knew that I had little time to finish what I was created to do, so I took a deep breath as I felt lines of heat crawl over my body. A flickering light manifested in the corner of my right eye as they started to speak again in unison.

"Infinite power ceiling released!"

They continued in unison and right after they finished their statement, the light became blidning, and I became lost in a sea of pain and yelling that increased in volume. A strong wind nearly knocked me over, but I was barely able to keep my balance as I shielded myself with my crossed arms as the light died down. The pain didn't, which kept me in reality. I rubbed my eyes and returned to my stance, knowing the next two actions I was going to take and since I was reaching the limit of my body's capability, I deeded to finish this on my first try. The two lights that dominated my vision were yellow and red in color that pulsed slightly.

"It makes no difference now"

I growled to myself as I felt the air displace, which prompted me to take a counter stance. Because I couldn't make anything distinguishable from my sight, I relied on the instinct my creator gave me. As soon as something impacted my chest, my right arm flashed upwards and grabbed something. The other arm followed and my vision cleared enough to see that I was holding them by their faces. I smiled to myself and slammed Rojo and SuperCell together so hard, something odd happened.

"No you fool; what are you doing!?"

The Shadow Stepper shrieked as they struggled weakly against my hold. I saw the Shadow Stepper running at me, but multiple lines of something that had erupted from the ground stopped him.

"There's no need"

The human stated as a flash of light went through the area. It didn't blind me, so I increased the pressure as I felt the two entities merge.

_I wasn't expecting this, but now all I need to do now is finished what I started_

I thought tensely as the light died down and I could see what had happened. There in front of me was an orb of light that that was orange and color that had an aura that was pulsing a weak yellow and red color.

"What have you done!?"

The creature shireked as I put my hand out to the orb. I could feel the magic energy that was compressed into this orb, which meant my plan was going to be successful. I needed this amount of energy for my plan and I now had only moments left to execute it.

"Sacrifices need to be made"

I growled to myself as the orb dropped into my hand where I held it for a moment before I made my hand into a fist, which shattered the sphere. The moment it broke, my mouth started to form words that shocked me.

"Experimental soul-pairing sequence intiated"

I said as my gaze dropped to the ground as a feeling of dread washed over me. A loud rattling sound filled the area that caused the ground me to shake violently as the pain spiked, which caused me to grit my teeth.

"Magic bridges connected: power coupler activated!"

I yelled suddenly as my head snapped up and I launched into a run where every one of my steps created a small explosion near my feet that sent smoke, embers, dust and ash into the air that blinded me, but I continued forward, not able to see my target, but sense it. Every step I took resounded in my body, which numbed the pain as I raced through the hazy air. As I ran, my vision became a sequence of memories with the time I spent in existance. From the moment I was given life, I knew that my purpose was to serve and protect my creator.

_I vowed that as my first words_

I reminded myself as my right arm drew backwards and my claws started to heat up for some reason.

_I will remain loyal to him_

I affirmed to myself as my arm thrust itself forwards and my claws impacted something cold and as soon as it did, a voice cried out.

"No; what are you doing!?"

The voice cried out as my arms started to tear away whatever these small and cold metallic items were. They broke apart easily and a stinging sensation that was similar to when Cryptis did tests on me that involved syringes coursed over my body. The sentimental thought flashed away as I tore the final layer of whatever these were away and I met the scared face of my enemy as I drew my arm back for what I knew was my final time.

"My master belongs to me, not you!"

I declared as I rammed my fist into his chest, which caved inwards and the momentum that carried me along caused me to stumble a short distance forward. I was able to keep my balance, but I fell to my knees as something landed roughly in front of me. The individual yelped and started into a coughing fit that brought relief to me.

"Thank you"

The individual said as my vision cleared. I didn't need to know who it was because I had been fighting for him this entire time.

"Go help the others"

I commanded him as I picked him up from the middle of his body and swung him two times around my body and let go. I saw his smiling face as I let go of him.

"You were a great and faithful bodyguard; given the chance, I will rebuild you"

He said as I surrendered to the power that was pressing against me,. The thought of his statement was the last thing I thought before an explosion resounded in my ears and in the same moment, I saw or felt nothing. My fate was sealed and I accepted it gladly, knowing that my purpose was fulfilled.

Chapter 3

Complications

Ruin's P.O.V.

His presence was near me and the energy that rested in me was itching for battle. The area that I had arrived at still had the tension of battle and my limiters were becoming weak.

_If I don't find Cryptis soon, I will perish!_

I reminded myself as my right arm lifted itself without me telling to and my hand went to one of the beads that ringed my neck. The one that my hand went felt sharp edges that signified that my limiter was close to failing. The cold material was some comfort, but I quickly brushed the sentiment away and let my mind return to what I was made for: protecting Cryptis at all costs. I casually pushed a tree to the side and I took in the sight of the area. Three individuals of the yoshi species were on the ground, accompanied by one individual of the chameleon species that was struggling to stay alive, one human and….him. Sparked by the influence of the Devil Gene and with the lust for battle that I was incapable of controlling drove me forward.

"So, that makes six"

The human said wistfully as the creature that I was created to destroy brought its right arm back and opened it, exposing wickedly sharp claws that glowed different colors. Without warning, a wave of anger, greed and unknown motivation coursed over me and I started to walk forward. My body started to twitch uncontrollably as I walked, moving by the will of my emotions and not my brain telling it to.

"You have some nerve to show up here, Raze Under Initiative Null unit!"

A voice called out to me, which stopped me cold and dead in my tracks. Wave after wave of cold and hot coursed up and down my body as the individuals who were standing turned to look at me. I could easily identify all of them: Shadow Stepper, Rojo, Emperor, ThunderHead, Lemon, Abyss, and…. Her. the Devil Gene reacted to the influences in the area and manifested itself by my body twitching.

_I'm not going to be able to control myself at this point!_

I thought tensely as something started to glow brilliantly, which was accompanied by a wave of magic energy that flooded the area. I was unsure of why this was happening and I knew that this wasn't going to go well. I knew that Cryptis was here, and at that moment, I lost control of my body. My consciousness was kicked to the corner of my mind and the Devil Gene took over, which meant that I had very little, if control over what happened next.

"Where…..is….he!?"

I seethed, shaking visibly as the light died down and my vision returned, which prompted me to take my fighting stance as I felt the familiar stinging sensation that coursed over my body, which meant that I was calibrating for battle. This included thickening my blood and increasing my muscle mass slightly and diverting blood to needed areas of my body and cutting circulation off to others that I didn't need. My question caused the human and the Shadow Stepper to chuckle.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

The Shadow Stepper declared as I finally noticed what had changed. Lemon and ThunderHead were missing and Rojo had changed to another form. With this minor confusion, I stiffened slightly and gave some of my attention to my surroundings.

"So, this is what you call allies?"

The Shadow Stepper asked as the lines that were wrapped around its hands started to uncoil and slither along the ground, which startled me somewhat, but I didn't let any of that concern me.

"I call them puppets; bags of flesh to do my bidding!"

The creature continued as I finally understood the gravity of the situation I had placed myself in: the Shadow Stepper had somehow unbound itself from the Abyssal Void and was now capable of moving between the two worlds _at will_.

_Wait! That means_

I thought tesnely as the creature continued while the wires climbed up the individuals of my species that were near it.

"You see, being the creator of something gives you full rights to treat what you've created however you want"

It continued with a smug look on its face as I watched the wires coil themselves around the necks of my acquaintances. I couldn't understand how I wasn't fighting at this point, but I could only narrow the possibilities down to having the minute control that I hypothesized that I had. The mist was darkening and I felt my neck starting to heat up.

_If I don't start releasing this energy soon_

I started to think, but I felt the air displaced and I felt a shockwave of energy pulse through me and with the speed that I possessed, I parried three attacks and resetted into my stance, where I found myself in the middle of a circle of individuals that was created by Rojo, something that looked like the combination of Lemon and ThunderHead and her. Off in the distance, I could see the Shadow Stepper and the human watching me, but there was another presence that I could feel, but couldn't pinpoint for some reason.

"Why will you not fight me yourself!?"

I growled loudly, which caused the ring of individuals around me to flinch. At that moment, a very faint voice resounded in my mind. I looked around wildly, and the ring of individuals around me started their assault. Rojo threw a punch that I directed into the combination of Lemon and ThunderHead. His punch impacted her axe-kick that sent the area into smoke, ash and embers. I used this to break away from the group and reset, but something drove an elbow into my chest and I slid backwards from the force that I was hit with.

"I surely haven't seen this before!"

The voice marveled as I strained to see through the billowing smoke that clouded my vision. I knew this voice and I didn't like it!

"It seems that you have something that doesn't belong to you"

The same voice said, changing to a tone that was somewhere between anger and a taunting fashion. Confused my this, my stance faltered and something sent me forwards and for the first time in a long time, I felt pain. I staggered forward a couple of steps and took my stance again shakily.

"This doesn't belong to you specifically"

I stated evenly, shifting my left eye to see behind me while my other eye focused on this individual. At this point, the frustration of being hit and feeling pain was starting to become overwhelming.

_Ruin_

The voice called again in my mind, which caused me to look around again. As soon as I took my eye of the individual, something impacted the side of my head, which sent me spinning off into the left, which meant that the attack had come from the right. I growled to myself as I hit the ground and quickly returned to my stance again, but this time, the individuals that had made the ring around me were laughing at something.

"Come on Ruin, you're not this bad at fighting!"

Rojo taunted me as I shook my head to clear some of the nausea that I was starting to experience. The combination of Thunderhead and Lemon also started to chuckle and at that moment, the nausea I was trying to control washed over me and I dropped to my knees while pain started to course over me. I had no idea what was happening, as I had never experienced this event before. As soon as I dropped to my knees, something grabbed me by my neck and I was yanked into the air. The grip was strong and it started to cut off my ability to breathe. I tried to move my limbs but nothing was responding for some reason!

"This is the height of Cryptis's creations and technology!?"

One of the voices taunted me as I tried to rationalize what was going on. Based on what was happening, there was only two logical remedies to this situation and none of them were optimal. One was succumbing to my enemy and letting my creator down and the other…..

_It's the only logical end, but it will cost my life_

I thought tensely with a minute trace of depression as something impaled my body. I didn't feel the pain oddly, but the moment the individual ripped its fist out of my chest, anger exploded through my body.

"Get off me!"

I yelled suddenly, kicking the individual who had impaled me so hard, the air displaced around me and I fell to the ground shaking slightly. I laid there for a moment, putting my hand to my chest to feel the blood that rarely manifested itself. The anger liked it and involuntarily, my hand went to my mouth and I licked the blood off of one of my fingers and got up, laughing quietly as I did.

_That's it;I've lost my mind!_

I exclaimed mentally with the uncontrollable giddiness that the Devil Gene influenced me with. I blinked a couple of times and rubbed the foreign substances from my eyes and the laser focus vision Cryptis gave me set itself into my eyes.

_Rojo, SuperCell, Caliente,the Shadow Stepper and Serpiente _

The voice said to me.

_Initiate command: Kill All_

The voice continued as my right hand went up to my neck.

_No, Stop!_

I cried mentally, but it was no use, my index claw twitched, which severed the string that held my limiter in place. As soon as the string was severed, a blue-black aura manifested itself as orange mist started to rise from my scales. For a moment, the cold black sphere I held brought some comfort before I clenched my hand into a fist, which shattered the orb. A shockwave of air went through the area, sending my opponents back a short distance as I felt the last of my natural self give into the power that rested in me.

"Command Received: proceeding to kill all organic life forms in the area!"

I shouted as I learned forwards while my arms went limp. My jaw tightened to much, some of my teeth shattered as my right hand started to glow a purple-black color.

"My name is the Raze Under Initiative Unit, the strongest creation of Cryptis; my purpose is to destroy anything that threatens the existence of my creator!"

I announced as I felt my heartbeat stop, which meant that this was my last fight. I slowly returned to my standing position with thunder resounding in the distance. The others looked up and as they did, a bolt of lighting flashed, blinding everyone for a moment, but I knew this lightning bolt was for me; it ended my transformation and jump started the changes needed for this form to function. When the light died down, I saw the others running at me as fast as they could, except for the human and the Shadow Stepper. I half smiled to myself and I took my stance for a moment before the others slid to a stop and all of us punched at the same time, our fists met, which sent the area into smoke, dust, fire, ashes, and into the crackling of electricity. There was no time for my mind to react, but it wasn't me who was fighting. A flash of yellow color that started a bicycle kick prompted me to duck. I lunged forward, narrowly missing a chop that was aimed for my neck. I backhanded Rojo, which sent the elbow that was meant for me into Caliente's face. Unphased, she resetted and while I was focused on that, a kick was driven into my left side which didn't move or hurt me. I leaned back, narrowly missing a projectile that was silver in color.

"This isn't your fight!"

I growled at the human, who shrugged.

"I can't have any fun?"

He asked with a shrug and as i was about to respond, a punch was driven into my back, knocking me forward a couple of steps from the force I was hit with. I felt something running down the left side of my mouth and involuntarily, I put my left hand up to feel what it was.

_More blood!_

The voice commanded me, which prompted me to turn and face my assailants once again, but this time, more anger coursed through me. I ducked a spinning jump kick and waited for the individual to land before driving a hate-filled punch into their face, which sent the individual reeling. The muscles in my legs tensed, and before I knew it, I was in the air about to terminate my target. Before I could comprehend that I wasn't moving, I was yanked backwards and slammed into the ground. I was stunned only for a moment, but that was the amount of time needed for me to the grabbed and thrown. I flew through the air for a moment before I impacted something that grunted on impact. Anger prompted me to get up, but I wasn't quick enough this time, as something landed to my left, which showered me with dust and dirt. The next moment, I was grabbed by my leg and was raised and slammed into the ground two times, once to the left and right of where I was laying. The second time I impacted the ground, I was stunned, and this gave my assailant time to start landing punches as I was pinned to the ground. After the third punch landed, my libs were able to move and I raised my arms quickly and crossed my arms together at my wrists and balled my hands into fists to block the punches I was receiving. The air displaced around us and I heard a grunt of pain that was followed by a large amount of pressure that compressed my chest inwards. I felt no pain, but the action was repeated three more times before I was able to roll away and reset into my fighting stance,but by the time I did, a flash of red color was seen from the corner of my left eye and instinctively, I reverse axe-kicked where the color was and my heel landed a clean hit. The individual hit the ground hard and groaned softly. I took a moment to smirk, which result in me being grabbed by my shoulders and turned abruptly to face another red blur that leaned back and headbutted me. Why this individual decieded to attack me like this confused me, and the time I took to be confused was enough for me to have the individual reset for another of the same attack. I smirked to myself and just as the individual brought their head forward, I spun around the back of the individual and took their head and brought it into another of my assailants fists. When the individual cried out, which cased ThunderHead to be confused for a moment, I vaulted over the individual I was holding and launched Caliente with a hate driven snap kick.

"Dodge this!"

A voice called out in a taunting fashion, which prompted me to turn quickly. The air started to crackle, which meant that my opponent was using an electrical based attack, which I instinctively used to set into a counter stance that would allow me to send their attack right back at them. The moment I got into the stance, I felt the impact of a large spherical object that pushed me back a short distance from the inertia this object wasn't enough to phase me, as I smirked, spun around two times and threw the large electrically charged sphere right back at ThunderHead, who had just brought her head up to smirk at me, believing that her attack had landed, but as soon as she realized I had countered her attack, it was too late and she started to say something, but the sphere impacted her and the area was once again thrown into a cloud of dust, dirt and ash.

"I don't dodge"

I growled and right after I finished my statement, I felt something brush my left shoulder. I whipped around to see what it was, but since the area was obscured with smoke, I thought I was hallucinating when I saw a long and thin line that resembled as tail floating into the thicker part of the smoke. The moment I tried to figure out what this was, something landed next to me, displacing some of the smoke. I didn't have time to react, but I somehow parried a punch and three roundhouse kicks, barely missing a jet kick from ThunderHead again. I stumbled a couple of steps backwards, almost losing my balance, which caused me to receive three punches from Caliente, a roundhouse kick from Rojo and a sweep from something I couldn't see. I started to fall backwards and my arm reached out without me telling it to and the moment my fingers brushed against something, my hand clamped down on whatever it was and I was launched from something that drove a kick into my right set of ribs, which sent me and what ever I was holding onto into a high paced barrel roll. By the time I stopped, I felt nauseous, but I was still able to move my limbs slightly. I tried to move, but by the time my limbs weren't numb anymore, my head was driven into the ground and laughter started to resound in my ears. It was slightly muffled and distorted, but it was laughter. It angered me, and before I could comprehend it, I was up, narrowly missing a large boulder that would've crushed me. Rojo was barrelling towards me, so I coiled the muscles in my legs and launched into the air to meet him. I could see the blankness in his eyes, which angered me. I blocked his punch and using his lost momentum, I swung him around me and I watched him slam into the ground. The air displaced around him and just as I started to fall, something impacted my back and my back bowed in from the force that I was hit with and before I knew it, I slammed intoRojo facefirst and something landed on top of me, which forced the air from my lungs, which caused Rojo and I to start coughing. Before I could catch my breath, I heard a cracking sound that was followed by pain, which a moment later I found to be someone repeatedly stomping on me with considerable force.

_ENOUGH!_

I screamed mentally, flying to my feet and grabbing whoever was stomping on me. I raised the individual into the air, and slammed them into Rojo, who was now motionless. The anger the drove me extended my arm in a flash and grabbed the yellow individual's leg and swung them around me twice to gain momentum and managed to hit Caliente and then Rojo as he struggled to get to his feet. She flew away from me and Rojo went sprawling to my left, groaning as he rolled. Since SuperCell was still falling, I grabbed her face with my right arm, punched her midsection three times, threw her into the air again, threw an inside and outside crescent kick that ended with me backhanding her midsection again which sent her spinning away from me. With the speed I knew wasn't mine, I sprinted over to where my victim had fallen and slammed my foot down on her chest, which caused her to cough weakly.

"Where should I start tearing you apart from!?"

I seethed as my mouth formed into a demonic smile. Her eyes fluttered weakly and just as I brought my foot up to complete the command I was given, a rad blur appeared at the corner of my right eye and I performed a roundhouse kick that sent Caliente spinning away from me. She rolled a short distance, but was somehow able to maneuver herself so that when the momentum that carried her along stopped, she fell into a kneeling position. She was breathing heavily and something was glowing slightly on her upper right arm.

"Come on now, go ahead and avenge your master"

Heavy breathing resounded all around as I struggled to move. Because I couldn't move, Ilet the pain overcome my senses and all of my limbs went numb, but as I let myself go, a voice that was loud and clear resound in my head.

_Raze Under Initiative Null Unit power cap removed: activate Cold Blooded Killer Drive!_

The voice stated tensely and then I finally understood who was speaking to me and why. Cryptis had been absorbed by someone that possessed the Cosmic Claw Fragment!

_That also means that his consciousness has been transferred into the claw fragment, leaving the husk of his body in reality!_

I thought tensely as I continued to try to get feeling back to my limbs. It was also then I realized what had happened and why.

"The Raze Under initiative Null Unit; supposedly the strongest creation that the United Chameleon Island Chain created still falls to an inferior species?"

The human's voice asked as the numbness started to go away. I didn't want to make any movements until I felt that the opportune moment came, which I didn't know if it would.

"I really thought your show of power would amaze me"

The voice continued as I was picked up by the back of my head. I groaned from the force that I was grabbed with and the speed that I was picked up by. Thankfully, my vision wasn't distorted and I met the human's sneering face. The odd article hid everything but his mouth, which showed a smile that sent a shiver down my spine.

"Supposedly, this form that you've taken allows your bones and muscle to be one hundred times stronger and your reaction time and dexterity to be twice that; so either you're not trying or you can't use this power; which one is it!?"

He asked angrily, shaking me slightly as my opponents lined up next to him on the left side of where he was standing. Without warning, he increased the grip of his hand and I clenched my teeth together from the pain as he flipped something into the air and caught it artistically with the hand he wasn't holding and held the blade to my throat. The cold metal caused me to shiver and my eyes moved themselves to look at Caliente. The human raised me up a short distance and turned around to hold me in front of her.

"Go ahead my servent, take the power that this individual possesses and do what you were created to"

He said ominously, but right after he finished this statement, power flew through me and I suddenly found myself a short distance from him and the others, holding Caliente by her neck with my right hand and with my left hand with all of my claws at her throat.

"Go ahead, see what it gets you"

She seethed, and a moment later, without me telling my body to, my left hand went through her neck and out the back of it, sending a gurgling sound through the area and a shower of blood onto my hand. The human twitched and others stood perfectly still as thin lines of black and red color started to come from her body and up to my upper right arm. As her body started to wither I started to laugh uncontrollably as I started to shake. The pain and numbness instantly vanished as something started to appear on my left arm and glow.

"Kill him, now!"

The creature next to the human commended SuperCell and Rojo tensely. They nodded slightly and they both launched at me. I smiled to myself and as they slid to a stop in front of me, with SuperCell throwing an inside crescent kick and Rojo throwing a punch, both of which I stopped with my right hand by directing her punch into Rojo's fist. Since I felt the elemental and magic energy as they were racing towards me, I decided that was my best option, but it wasn't me that was fighting and I constantly had to remind myself of this. They both staggered backwards and resetted, while I stood and crossed my arms in front of me in a taunting matter. Rojo was the first to react, throwing another punch that engulfed his fist in flame, which caught with my left hand, which was larger than his fist. He brought his head up to look at me and I saw his horrified expression that caused me to smile. I closed that hand into a fistt and heard multiple cracking sounds that caused him to cry out in pain as he tried to take his fist from my hand. With his other hand, he was able to strike the left side of my face. I felt the impact and my head moved to the left slightly. I growled deeply and used my left hand, made it into a fist and delivered an uppercut that snapped his head back that hit with to much force, he flew into the air, but before he was out of my reach, I grabbed him by his neck and slammed him back into the ground and roundhouse kicked him into SuperCell, who was looking at me with a dumbfounded expression. When Rojo slammed into SuperCell a loud cracking sound went through the area and they tumbled a short distance and when they stopped, were motionless. I thought I was going to walk over to them, but once again, this wasn't me, so before I knew it, I had picked up Rojo and put him on top of SuperCell, as they were both unconscious. I then brought my foot up and slammed down on his chest, which caved in slightly.

"There is no reason any of you should be spared!"

I yelled with hatred as I brought my head up to see the creature standing a few feet away from me. Since it was twilight, I could see some of its features with the most prominent the extensions that went from being its eyes and went up the sides of its face. It was sneering as if everything that had happened here was meaningless to it. That angered me and I increased the pressure of my foot somewhat and the individuals under my feet started to wheeze.

"If you kill them, you'll only be helping me"

It said with indifference as it shrugged and at that moment, a wave of pain coursed over me which caused me to lose my balance and stumble back a couple of steps. My arms went the sides of my head as all of my muscles started to tense.

_This is it; this is all the time you have left!_

The voice called to me as something loud and rhythmic started to resound in my head. I dropped my arms back to their sides and when my vision cleared, my opponents, SuperCell and Rojo were standing in front of me, holding their right clawed hands in front of their chests. Their middle claws were glowing so brightly, I had to look away.

"Claw Fragment Limit Modulators Activated"

They started in unison as the pain started to intensify. I balled my hands into fists and looked up into the multicolored sky. I knew that I had little time to finish what I was created to do, so I took a deep breath as I felt lines of heat crawl over my body. A flickering light manifested in the corner of my right eye as they started to speak again in unison.

"Infinite power ceiling released!"

They continued in unison and right after they finished their statement, the light became blidning, and I became lost in a sea of pain and yelling that increased in volume. A strong wind nearly knocked me over, but I was barely able to keep my balance as I shielded myself with my crossed arms as the light died down. The pain didn't, which kept me in reality. I rubbed my eyes and returned to my stance, knowing the next two actions I was going to take and since I was reaching the limit of my body's capability, I deeded to finish this on my first try. The two lights that dominated my vision were yellow and red in color that pulsed slightly.

"It makes no difference now"

I growled to myself as I felt the air displace, which prompted me to take a counter stance. Because I couldn't make anything distinguishable from my sight, I relied on the instinct my creator gave me. As soon as something impacted my chest, my right arm flashed upwards and grabbed something. The other arm followed and my vision cleared enough to see that I was holding them by their faces. I smiled to myself and slammed Rojo and SuperCell together so hard, something odd happened.

"No you fool; what are you doing!?"

The Shadow Stepper shrieked as they struggled weakly against my hold. I saw the Shadow Stepper running at me, but multiple lines of something that had erupted from the ground stopped him.

"There's no need"

The human stated as a flash of light went through the area. It didn't blind me, so I increased the pressure as I felt the two entities merge.

_I wasn't expecting this, but now all I need to do now is finished what I started_

I thought tensely as the light died down and I could see what had happened. There in front of me was an orb of light that that was orange and color that had an aura that was pulsing a weak yellow and red color.

"What have you done!?"

The creature shireked as I put my hand out to the orb. I could feel the magic energy that was compressed into this orb, which meant my plan was going to be successful. I needed this amount of energy for my plan and I now had only moments left to execute it.

"Sacrifices need to be made"

I growled to myself as the orb dropped into my hand where I held it for a moment before I made my hand into a fist, which shattered the sphere. The moment it broke, my mouth started to form words that shocked me.

"Experimental soul-pairing sequence intiated"

I said as my gaze dropped to the ground as a feeling of dread washed over me. A loud rattling sound filled the area that caused the ground me to shake violently as the pain spiked, which caused me to grit my teeth.

"Magic bridges connected: power coupler activated!"

I yelled suddenly as my head snapped up and I launched into a run where every one of my steps created a small explosion near my feet that sent smoke, embers, dust and ash into the air that blinded me, but I continued forward, not able to see my target, but sense it. Every step I took resounded in my body, which numbed the pain as I raced through the hazy air. As I ran, my vision became a sequence of memories with the time I spent in existance. From the moment I was given life, I knew that my purpose was to serve and protect my creator.

_I vowed that as my first words_

I reminded myself as my right arm drew backwards and my claws started to heat up for some reason.

_I will remain loyal to him_

I affirmed to myself as my arm thrust itself forwards and my claws impacted something cold and as soon as it did, a voice cried out.

"No; what are you doing!?"

The voice cried out as my arms started to tear away whatever these small and cold metallic items were. They broke apart easily and a stinging sensation that was similar to when Cryptis did tests on me that involved syringes coursed over my body. The sentimental thought flashed away as I tore the final layer of whatever these were away and I met the scared face of my enemy as I drew my arm back for what I knew was my final time.

"My master belongs to me, not you!"

I declared as I rammed my fist into his chest, which caved inwards and the momentum that carried me along caused me to stumble a short distance forward. I was able to keep my balance, but I fell to my knees as something landed roughly in front of me. The individual yelped and started into a coughing fit that brought relief to me.

"Thank you"

The individual said as my vision cleared. I didn't need to know who it was because I had been fighting for him this entire time.

"Go help the others"

I commanded him as I picked him up from the middle of his body and swung him two times around my body and let go. I saw his smiling face as I let go of him.

"You were a great and faithful bodyguard; given the chance, I will rebuild you"

He said as I surrendered to the power that was pressing against me,. The thought of his statement was the last thing I thought before an explosion resounded in my ears and in the same moment, I saw or felt nothing. My fate was sealed and I accepted it gladly, knowing that my purpose was fulfilled.


End file.
